


Chronicles of the Shield: Operation Phoenix

by CrisisExceed



Series: Chronicles of the Shield [4]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Close like Brothers, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Other wrestlers appearing as minor characters, POV First Person, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-09-19 13:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrisisExceed/pseuds/CrisisExceed
Summary: There's an old saying:"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."When the world tried to burn them to ash they saw it as a means to fight back and become even stronger. With the weights finally lifted off their shoulders, The Shield are refreshed, renewed, and are ready to seize their destiny. In the defense of Paragon the boys will go on the offensive to take their fight to their enemies, but little did they realize that it would be their actions that'd inspire others to do the same while shadows lurk on the home front. Are they prepared?Fourth in an episodic series





	1. From Hope Comes Light

**Author's Note:**

> Part 4!! \o/
> 
> Thanks for everyone whose reviewed and supported this series so far, it keeps me motivated. I've been working on this series for over two years now. For those new to the series, welcome, this series is my baby and if you've got the chance be sure to check out _Operation: Origins_ , _Operation: Chimera_ , and _Operation: Cerberus_. 
> 
> This particular episode was supposed to be my entry for the NaMoWriTmo this year but I missed the mark lol. Also don't forget I'm always taking suggestions on how to improve the story, so don't be afraid to drop some constructive criticism. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

We had to take the long way back to Astros to get ready for the next mission. We got ready as soon as we could to head out to meet Orton in the Orion outskirts. Although the communication was silent with the Brigadier General thus far, the only thing we had was the various pictures being sent to Roman's phone of the gorge and the Leviathan encampment. He was allowing us to devise a plan as we made our way over there. To be honest I didn't think we were gonna make it in time.

I had to make an order in short time to get us ready for the raid. The canyon we were headed for was getting the beginnings of the mid winter snow. We changed from our all black tactical uniforms to long puffy arctic camouflage coats to accommodate for the weather. Seth's was hard to get as we needed more of the experimental fibers and Kevlar as he could still render himself intangible without having to freeze. Mine also had to be customized to free my arms to not get in the way of my bow. I chose to wear a thermal protective sleeve on my left arm. The coats and new pants were designed to be both bulletproof, while still keeping us hidden and protected from the conditions. This would he our first raid in such weather, but we were trained for this.

After spending just a little time in the Radiance Providence it felt almost surreal to come back the Alliance's advanced technology. The people felt the same, as well as the government style (just they were ruled by the church), I felt the only difference was just how far behind they were in advancements. I noticed that the houses in Wyndmere were ran on basic electricity, but everything else just felt so flat. It was strange to say the least especially after growing up always having Gale's tech at my disposal at anytime. It proved that Seth and I truly did grow up in opposite worlds. However I felt like it was our uniqueness that kept our bond strong.

That'd made me ponder however. Roman got to see where both Seth and I grew up. Would we ever see the island of where he originated from? Up til now it seemed the only thing we knew about The Big Dog's origin was that he came from an island and a big family. When we started training together he had said that all traces of our previous life had to be erased. Thinking about it now it wasn't hard for Seth and I to do so, since we really didn't have the prestigious or colorful background we wanted to remember. It was amazing just how different he was from us, and yet it still felt like he was in the same boat all the same. His mentor was just as connected to the same incidents leading to the project.

It was terrifying just how much everything sat in place centered around us. We needed to save the Prime Minister, she had the final piece of the puzzle. Once we get our hands on the Eye of Taladen, nothing else should matter as long as we kept it away from Heyman and his muscle man. Instinctively I placed my hand on the cold steel that was now my right arm. I sighed deeply, it would always be a reminder of just how weak we truly were and a deep scar that'd remain in my nightmares forever.

I shook my head as we were finally at the summit of our hike up the cliff face.

**~~~***~~~**

Orton was a seasoned veteran in the Special Ops division. I thought we were armed to the teeth, but either the older soldier was that good that he needed so little or he'd used up most of his supplies before we had gotten here. We had only received the first picture from him nearly a week ago, and that's not to say he might have been here even longer.

The Brigadier General was an elite sniper, and personally trained me in some of the basics. His outpost had only his prized rifle on it's kickstand facing outward and pointed towards the gorge. The end was painted a flat black with absolutely no shine and had a ghillie mantle with an arctic camouflage pattern to cover it up. The only other thing seen was a still full container of high caliber sniper ammo and small backpack with its containments lightly spread around the the tiny area. It was amazing to see just what a true sniper outpost looked like, I was truly impressed. He walked around with a lot less than we did, and we were a team of agents...he was just one man. It went show how much experience he had over us. Could I be like Orton one day?

He pulled a pair of binoculars to hand to Roman to survey the area for himself, eventually handing the device to Seth to see the same. I too looked around letting my enhanced eyesight take in what was around us. The area as a whole was bowl shape with only one way in and out from the east side. To the north was a whole jagged red cliff angled in various directions with a few peaks harboring snow. The rest of the area looked the same with just shorter cliffs and of course at the bottom of the bowl was the Leviathan camp, which looked to have fresh snow sitting on top. I looked above us to see puffy gray clouds broken up with a little light from the sun peaking through. The air was still cold and thin up here, but it was looking like we weren't gonna have to fight the weather. That was a good sign.

Orton pointed to the small dirt path to the east, it was just wide enough for a single vehicle. "That'll be our escape route." He started. "When we have secured the Prime Minister we meet there. Dean," he looked at me to give his orders. "you are to treat any wounds she might have and escort her to the entrance. Use any means to keep her safe, you have the best equipment for the job." The sniper patted my metal arm and grinned. He truly had a lot of confidence in us to pull such an operation. "Our number one priority is keep her and each other safe, I'll be providing cover fire from here."

"However the first part of this raid begins with Seth." Orton turned to our youngest still keeping his confident grin. "Just before day break, you'll have to take out their patrols. He reached down to his backpack and pulled out what looked to be another katana and held it out to Seth. It looked exactly the same as when we investigated Ursa Minor. "Taking those out will allow Roman and Dean to get in easier. As much as I know you don't want to Seth, this is how it's has to be done. It's kill or be killed." I watched as our younger brother took the blade from Orton securing it to his back. Seth was fully aware what his place was for the mission to succeed. I knew he didn't want to kill, and that was because his past was so bloodstained he felt that he no longer had to. But seeing as what was at stake, Seth knew what needed to be done.

Lastly he turned to Roman, his old friend. "I know what you're capable of. Make Colonel Styles proud." Orton placed his hands on the shoulders of the raven haired man. "What you have with these two is beautiful and beyond words. In a few months your team will have been together for a year. You guys truly have become the heart of the Alliance. Do what you were trained to do Roman Reigns…"

"Hit em' hard and don't hold back," The two said in unison and sounding like they were trying to imitate AJ's accent. I knew fully what they meant though. Roman was always and insisted to be the first to engage the enemy. I wasn't sure if it was because it was what he was trained to do or if it was because of his sense of duty being our oldest brother. Nonetheless Roman was the infantry specialist of our team, and always made sure that all eyes were on him while the rest of us hit them where it hurts. If there was anyone of us that was truly at home behind enemy lines, it was Colonel Reigns.

For now we'd wait through the night and get a short rest before beginning one of the biggest missions of our lives. While under the blanket of stars we lied on the cold ground that felt oddly comfy knowing that my brothers were by my side. I couldn't stop thinking about what had transpired in Wyndmere. I watched our little brother grow up in an instant. Seth was truly a new man.

**~~~***~~~**

_"What do we do about him?" I asked pointing to the still unconscious megalomaniac Seth called a father. I observed his being as our little brother faded in and out of the living world. They oddly looked the same asleep. Both men had an eerie innocence about them when they slept. The Count looked exactly like Seth just a little bit older, but while asleep he looked just like another old man. The thought scared me that the deadliest assassins in all of Paragon looked the most innocent. They say your strongest personality shows when you're asleep._

_Claudio sighed at my question. He probably never thought he'd see the day when the house he served ever since he was a child would see it's fall. But I without saying anything the bald butler knew this was for the best. However what would happen to Wyndmere? Perhaps only Claudio knew the answer to that. "He stole from the people, and now has dues to pay." The butler sighed again only a little more melancholy. "Seth's bravery is boundless, and I guess he's got you and Mister Reigns for that. You see The Count made us live in fear of him, just as his father did before him. He used to beat Seth within an inch of his life just for looking at him the wrong way. He wanted to make sure he had control over us, he even made us fight each other. But the young master...he was always special."_

_It was interesting to hear what Claudio had to say about our younger brother. Nothing but praise for Seth and venom for the master he served. Felt strange listening about the life of Seth Rollins from another view. His look changed slowly when speaking about the younger assassin. "His compassion?" The butler nodded his head slowly. I hated to admit that our younger brother was even more compassionate than I was, and I was trained to care for others._

_"Honestly, I had no idea. I was worried that Seth would have ended up like The Count and follow in his footsteps. But every time his father would beat him, there was always this look of defiance. He'd tell us to fight to the death and the young master would refuse every time. He truly understood the calling of Tyler Black. It was his compassion, his ability to feel guilt, that separated him from his father. It made me think, what did he see in the journal that was different from how his father saw it." Claudio turned from looking at the ground and stared down Seth's sleeping body and cracked a small smile. It was the same smile I gave Seth and Roman after I got my new arm. He felt free, like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders and he had our younger brother to thank for that. "I can't believe I had turned a blind eye to The Count's crimes up till now. Seth completed his mission, he's broken Wyndmere from a vicious cycle."_

_Our attentions were suddenly grabbed by a groaning in the corner. The Count was beginning to stir awake. I quickly launched myself from Seth's side grabbing Ceadeus and nailed him in the temple again making sure he stayed sleeping. He'd yet to be restrained and the last thing we needed was him getting away. Seth was still too weak to be able to finish his mission, but that didn't stop me from making sure The Count of Wyndmere got what he deserves. On queue Roman had returned to the room with rope in hand and wrapped it around the older assassin securely._

_"Hey Claudio," I started grabbing the butler's attention. "I know it might not mean much, but I'm sorry for what you had to go through. I can't imagine what you had to be feeling all these years." Although my words really didn't have much an impact, just hearing about someone else who went through hard time such as myself isn't easy for anyone. Claudio, wasn't physically hurting over the years, he was still hurting on the inside. Memories of a time that'd forever haunt him, just like myself, Seth, and even Roman. It just seemed like anyone who ever had to deal with or being in the presence of the Eye of Taladen just had to go through hell._

_"You'd ever think about leaving here? Like, going to The Alliance? It's not anything special, but it's a different scenery than here. I know what it feels like to be trapped." I slowly returned to Seth's side to administer some more salve on his closing wounds and rewrapping them. I threw the blood soaked bandages in a corner to be dealt with later. "You see, I come from a city called Atlas, where there's only two types of people...the rich and scared, and the poor and savage. It also lives in a vicious cycle. The poor are so angry and violent that it makes the rich and intelligent that can help people stay away, but because they stay away they can't help those who need it."_

_"What about you Mister Ambrose? What side of the fence do you stand on? You imposing posture and want to jump to violence so quickly says one thing about you...but the way you cared and for quickly you were able to treat his wounds says that you're beyond intelligent especially in medicinal studies." The butler was very observant, just like Seth. It went down to show that they did indeed have the same kind of training. Roman too was just as observant...suddenly I felt left out. My powers of observation was different from theirs. Where I was good at reading and analyzing body parts and pinpoint injuries in mere seconds, I couldn't quite read body language like they could. I wonder if that came with time, I was the only one not raised to be the embodiment of stealth._

_And speaking of…_

_Seth began to stir once more groaning and rubbing his eyes like a small child. The actions made me chuckle just a little. The younger Mereian shifted ever so slightly until he was finally sitting up in bed with his back against the headboard. His hands clasped in front of him like he normally does when he's confused or has no idea what to say. It was like he was afraid to tell everyone how he was feeling. Sometimes I didn't understand the quirkiness of Seth's personality, but hearing it from Claudio explained a lot. He was taught to never show how he was feeling even in distress. It was that same quirk however, that almost got him killed. The thought angered me to I lifted my hand...and struck our younger brother across the face. The slapping sound echoed in the small room catching Roman's attention._

_"Dean! What the-"_

_"I deserve it Ro…" he said quickly cutting off our older brother for whatever lecture he had lined up._

_"Good! Well I hoped you finally pulled your head out of your ass!" I shouted at Seth. I was so mad, that I felt slapping him was the only way I could get my point across. I hate the feeling helpless and not being able to help our little brother gave me that feeling. "Seeing you...just...seeing you…" All my words were dying in my throat. I was caught between crying and shouting more. I did the only thing I really could think of. I threw my arms around Seth's neck and buried my face in the crook. I just wanted to hold him close and assure myself that my little brother was safe._

_"Dean…" started the younger Mereian._

_"Shut up, Seth. Just shut up…" I pulled in the brunet closer that I barely noticed Roman making his way over and wrapping his strong arms around both myself and Seth. Our bond still strong despite the hardships that the world kept trying to throw at us. I wanted more moments like these, with the only family I had left._

_We probably sat there for what felt like hours before Claudio cleared his throat catching our attentions. "Not to interrupt," he said giving us a moment to break away from one another. "Seeing as there a strong chance that Master of the household will no longer be in power after today, I'll leave the decision to you Seth. What will happen to this noble line?"_

_The youngest didn't respond right away and instead shifted out of bed to slip his boots and shirt, that still had crusted blood, back on. Next he returned his holster and harness back to their rightful places on his person and lastly places his batons back on his hips. Seth suddenly looked the same once more back to being The Architect of the Shield. The difference was like night and day and it showed that Tyler Black and Seth Rollins were two different people. I could only hope now that this was a chapter in his life closed for good. "The line ends here, Claudio. Find as much kindle as you can and line the house up with it. Then take whatever you need and meet us outside. Once this place is burnt down, you're free to do whatever. This is for the best."_

_The last thing I remember about Wyndmere was Seth proudly holding the torch and tossing it on what was once the front door to his childhood home. All his memories of a dreaded life, burnt to ash and he stood there with a grin feeling free…and more importantly…_

_Redeemed._

**~~~***~~~**

According to Orton's information we still had a couple hours before the guard patrol would change shifts, and in mere minutes would the sun begin to show the beginnings of dawn on the horizon. This was it, we went over the plan one more time before finally beginning the operation. The Brigadier General moved his small outpost towards the east side of the bowl to gain more coverage and keep the exit point clear. Seth would start on the west side moving east to take out every patrol and Roman and I would start south moving towards the center with eventually the Big Dog moving north to plant explosives and blow their supplies sky high.

 _"Remember, this area is labeled as Zero, so no matter what happens here...no one is ever going to know."_ spoke Orton on the comms one last time. I shuddered at the mundane word again. I hated acknowledging it as it still brought up horrifying memories that left my brothers and I distraught. But I couldn't hate them entirely, it gave us motivation to finally understand who it was we were and what we were meant to do.

As Roman and I made our way down the cliffside, Seth had already sprung into action. Once he was in position he shifted to his intangible state and instantly took out the furthest two in the back with what looked like his a baton to the temple to one and the other baton to the back of the neck. Once they were fully out he switched back to his visible state raising his arm with two fingers in the air signaling it was time for Roman and I to fully get in position.

The Big Dog secured all the claps of the backpack he had in front of his chest. He needed to keep it close as it did hold at least four or five explosives. I felt like Roman was the one to be able protect the package the best as well as he was really the only one that could. We started on our south side and began our move. We had to move a bit slower but I looked over to see three more guards taken out by Seth. I hid behind some supply crates to get a good sniping position from the ground. I pulled Ceadeus off my back switching it into its bow form. Lining up the shot I was able to take out the guard in Roman's path allowing him to slip through as he took out the next one blocking mine. Together we moved forward towards the Prime Minister limousine using the same pattern of attack.

Just as the sky's hues began to change color to a more pinkish color, that was when we knew our cover was up, but the first part of the mission was success and we all were able to rendezvous in the center where the limo was. With no one around us we each shattered a window of the vehicle to see that it was empty. This proved to be a problem as now we had to see where they had taken her to. With dawn finally here it was going to make it harder to move silently. Roman and I turned our attentions to Seth who had that thinking look on his face.

The Architect was about to devise a quick plan as he had become known for doing in the middle of a mission. Where Roman, our leader, was good at making plans to start the mission and making sure we had an exit point, he just wasn't quick thinking enough to come up with a back up if things went awry. That's where Seth did come in however, he was fast on his feet and knew how to adjust to a mission if things didn't quite go as planned. It was just another one the quirks that made us a great team. Where one lacked one of the others were certainly there to pick up the slack. As for myself, I was able to come up with some good plans, but mostly exit strategies to make sure everyone came out mostly unscathed.

**~~~***~~~**

Seth finally lifted his head from his chin and quietly snapped his fingers signaling the lightbulb went off in his head. _"Orton, we need to work fast."_ he said catching everyone's attention and making sure the sniper was aware of his plan. _"We can't work quietly anymore as the next patrol should be making its way to their posts now. Once they find all the dead guards, they're gonna know we're here. Roman is to distract as many insurgents to their ammo supply once he's got the explosives in place. Once those blow, it should hopefully take out many as many as we can so as long as Roman gets away cleanly. That should allow Dean to seek out the Prime Minister in haste with little to deal with. Lastly, Orton will continue provide any cover fire as necessary, while still keeping the exit clear."_

I inspected the limousine front to back to see what was supposed to be our exit vehicle. "Hey Sethie…" I got an eyeroll from our youngest as he hated his nickname. I had to double take on what I was looking like, but I knew I had seen and done something the same or similar in Atlas. The hood of the vehicle had been torn clean off and many parts from the engine were missing. Clever of Leviathan to strip it as so it couldn't get away. The three of us inspected the inside as well to see if there was anything of importance to The Alliance as to why they'd strip it, but luckily there was nothing but a cleaned out mini-bar. I looked to our younger brother, _"You're gonna need to find us another ride…that'll fit five of us."_

 _"Worry about me last Dean, I got away from Pegasus didn't I? This will be a piece of cake for me. Trust me, I'll meet you guys back in Cassiopeia. You guys are gonna have to show me that cafe you guys keep going back to."_ Innerly I chuckled, it had been almost three months since we had last seen the girls. Up until now, since we had left for Atlas we hadn't been back. The girls-no our sisters, might have been worried sick about us. We had been so focused on recovery not once did we stop to visit them. I'd hope that they weren't worrying too hard for us, but I still remember Charlotte's reaction when we came back from Ursa Minor. I couldn't forget Roman's cousin either, the last time we saw him was when we had left to go rescue the Prime Minister.

I shook my head, I needed to refocus. If Orton said he could get away on his own merit we were just gonna have to trust him. After all he was the most experienced out of all of us, and Roman seemed to have no arguments with this plan. The sniper was trained on being able to work by himself as we were trained to be a team and a unit. Staying hidden and getting away was his speciality.

I looked up to hear that the Brigadier General fired his first shot. I watched a body headed towards the east side drop down. There was no doubt that Orton's shot rung through the canyon, and suddenly there were many more soldier beginning to move in haste. The time for subtlety was over and it was time to move even quicker.

**~~~***~~~**

Thanks to Seth's efforts there were a lot less patrols to deal with making it easier to move around. The younger would still remain unseen and only taking out the ones necessary to get to his destination. Roman on the other hand moved in quite the opposite fashion. He didn't hesitate to let himself be seen and took out insurgents one after another, with backup from Orton's rifle.

Roman's athleticism was indescribable. When he said he used to play sports in school it showed. He was a larger guy you wouldn't think capable of being so agile and seeing how fast he could actually move left me in awe. He was ducking, weaving, and jumping over whatever was in his path in one clean motion one after the other. Colonel Reigns was just something else, and I could tell he wasn't using the project, his movements were his own merit. This was our older brother holding nothing back. He was truly deserving all the praise he received.

Once all eyes were on Roman, it was time to make my move. I carefully tried to shift through all the noise in hopes for a different voice, I couldn't pick up anything in the middle of the madness. I did however, spot another section looking pretty cut off from the rest of the camp. A tent looking similar to what Heyman used in Ursa Minor. It was smaller and looked to be one of those kinds of tents that could be set up quickly. Upon further inspection I noticed the guards blocking the tent were more steadfast and a lot bigger. Even though there was a huge commotion, they remained unmoving. Nothing was ever easy was it?

Gripping Ceadeus it was time to make my own move. I charged straight for the first guard in my way, leaping off the stack of crates. As I was coming down at the same time grabbed the insurgent by the shoulders and twisted his body to the ground. It brought an oddly sinister feeling when I heard something pop in his left knee. For now I was done treating wounds...it was time to make them. All this pent up aggression suddenly had some targets to take it out on. Seth and Roman weren't holding back, so why should I?

I sneered as the soldier tried to get up only to fall back down clutching his knee. Placing the end of my staff under his chin forcing him to look up at me just as Seth did to his father. I could have nearly drowned in the look of fear he gave me. I preferred my enemies fear my presence, it was only my brothers, allies, and patients I needed to smile at me. I felt a rush from the death glare I was receiving, it was one of those moments where my cruel side reared it's ugly head. Swiftly swinging my staff over my shoulder, I aimed to knock him out cold with a strike to the back of his head. I chuckled seeing his body twitch face first into the floor. With this one out of my way it was time to make haste for the next insurgent in my way.

I watched as one made a mad dash for me only to catch one of Orton's high caliber bullets stopping him dead in his tracks. I thought Seth was cold, but all Orton did was just fire the next shot as life moved on.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two more insurgents come at me with blades clutched tight. To avoid their attacks I had to quickly spin backwards just to avoid getting grazed. Both men carried wide swords that thinned out at the end and curved to cut through with little resistance. What did Seth call those again? Scimitars? I mentally shrugged as the second tried to get the jump on me, but didn't get the memo that my hearing is incomparable. He quickly caught the bottom end of Ceadeus in the jaw. The first tried yet again to strike me over head but quickly shifting my staff around I was able to grip both ends and held it horizontally above my head successfully blocking the attack. We fought back against each other when finally I was able to shove his armament upwards forcefully. The second tried to get me down the spine but a quick kick backwards keeled him over and swung Ceadeus to catch the first's sword on the downswing causing him to nearly decapitate his ally.

I kicked my staff up catching both their attentions as it came down I caught and slammed both ends on top of their heads. With one last swing of Ceadeus I was able to slam one end into the waist of the first and the second took a full hit to his lower back. It was time to move on, I was close to the tent. _"The explosives are in place."_ spoke Roman.

 _"I've secured the escape route."_ followed Seth, it seemed like the rest of the mission fell on me. As I approached the tent more shots fired from Orton's rifle and even Seth's guns rang through the air, echoing in the entire canyon.

The two standing guard at the tent were a lot bigger than the insurgents that I had been fighting off thus far. I continued to run until I was face to face with both of them. Looking around we were so far away from being able to receive backup from anyone. Roman had to keep the insurgents at the north end and Seth had to keep the vehicle he secured for us safe with Orton keeping the escape clear. I cracked my neck and grinned feeling extremely confident. If I could survive Lesnar, this should be no trouble. Time seemed to move in slow motion as one raised a gun, I instantly raised my right arm as the bullet that was fired ricocheted off its steel plating.

The one holding the gun, looked a bit surprised that my reaction time was so quick. While the second cracked his knuckles. _"Dean, status?"_ asked Roman.

I had been wanting tougher opponents since this raid had started, and realized I wasn't going to be left disappointed a wide grin spread on my face. I reached up to the comm on my ear speaking clearly into the mic that hung down and clung to my cheek. _"Give me a minute, Ro."_

I looked at my two opponents up and down. Both men were equal to Roman in size, maybe even bigger. Both had pale skin and pale green eyes like most residents of Leviathan and had fleece lined hats. They were wearing baggy cargo pants like us, and white combat boots to match, lastly they had white overcoats with their nation's symbol sewn into the upper left of the torso. The symbol itself was a long serpent with massive fangs and large scales to match it's body, lastly the tail was shaped like a fish fin. It was supposed to be the ancient protector of Paragon. It was a shame they were gonna meet the end of my fury, and the fury of the twin snakes.

The two waited for me to make the first move, which was kinda like me to do so, so I didn't want to disappoint. The first one had a bushy dark beard, that couldn't cushion the blow, hard I had hit him. Both were caught completely off guard for how fast, unexpected, and painful the strike was. I lifted the back end of Ceadeus to strike the other in the neck only for it to be caught. He was much faster than I had expected, wondering if it was his lack of beard. Innerly shrugging, I was pushed to the ground by the beardless one via Ceadeus. He seemed to be smart enough to know I wasn't going to relinquish my hold on my weapon.

Being on my back however wasn't going to stop me. Snapping my weapon around in a sweeping motion caused me to catch the beardless one tripping him and used to the momentum to dig Ceadeus into the ground and managed to get a knee strike, one that Seth would be proud of, into the first one while rising from the ground. (Man if it wasn't for their beards I wouldn't be able to tell these two apart.) I spun my staff up and over my shoulder to catch the bearded one in the gut, then swiftly shifted my hands upwards to swing my weapon like a bat to nail the beardless one in the temple. He went down rather fast.

While admiring my work I didn't noticed the one with the beard had risen and pointed his gun at me. I spun around quickly flicking the wrist of my steel arm holding an arrowhead to his throat. Looking over my shoulder at him with a smirk I reveled in that look of fear again as his gun quickly fell down into the snow beneath us. He himself looked like he had just seen a demon and took off running away from me. I adjusted my coat, being the one who was victorious this day.

**~~~***~~~**

I made my way into the tent to see that it was pretty much empty with the exceptions of the support beams and stack of a few bowls in the corner. But there she was brushing the dust and snow off herself and clung to the blanket that she had wrapped around herself. The Prime Minister didn't look rattled at all, in fact she smiled at me showing just how grateful she was. It was a shock to say the least, it had been almost two months since her kidnapping, and we had taken our sweet ass time to get here. I thought she'd be a little more pissed...but she looked so calm. It seemed almost inhuman.

I held my hand out to her not really knowing what to say. How do you speak to someone in her position especially since she wasn't terrified at all. "I'm uhh-"

She didn't hesitate to cut me off, while taking off the brown wig she wore revealing a long turess of shimmering lemon blonde hair. "You're Second Lieutenant Dean Ambrose of The Shield, a well known high-class soldier in the Investigations and Special Ops division despite your short reputation. You're well known in fourteen different medical practices and but have actually performed only 5 according to Alliance records. You are also loud, brash, and often resort to violence too quickly...you are also the one credited with the capture and interrogation of the rogue agent Mizanan. I know exactly who you are." I could only blink as she threw the entire description of who I was in my face. It was no wonder she had a very prosperous military career. Also I didn't know I had records of five different practices of medicine. Crap she was good.

The Prime Minister giggled at my reaction wiping the tear from her brown eyes. I had to admit she was beyond beautiful and even more so in person, leaving me in awe. She instead held her hand out to me. "I am the newly elected Prime Minster, Renee Young." I slowly reached over with my left arm, didn't want to leave a bad impression with my right, and shook her hand gently whilst still staring at her blankly. The blonde let out a short laugh again and she switched hands to shake my good hand. "Are you going to escort me out of here Mister Ambrose?" Still feeling like a silent idiot, I just nodded.

I poked my head out of the tent to look around. Most of the insurgents had moved towards the entrance with more of Orton's shots ringing in the bowl. I motioned for her to stay close and follow me as we made our way towards Seth and the entrance. _"I've secured the package. We're headed over."_

Renee and I quickly made our way over towards the east entrance, along the way she picked up a handgun from a dead insurgent and helped clear our path. She was able to pinpoint vital areas on people without a moment's hesitation and took any that was in our way with a single shot. Not even Roman was that good, this woman was on another level. I felt so insignificant being next to her.

"Come on!" shouted Seth who had spotted us from a distance firing off two more shots from his guns to peel off more soldiers who were getting up. However, from the corner of my eye I had spotted the same burly guard from before now carrying what looked to be a large launcher type weapon. My eyes grew wide as I heard the sounds of Roman's explosives go off in the distance, but that wasn't what had me scared. I saw Roman approach Seth unknowingly what was about to happen.

I screamed as the guard pulled the trigger on the weapon hurling an large explosive rocket towards my brothers. I felt my body move on it's own without thinking, ready to stand in the way and take the shot for my brothers. I wasn't gonna lose them here, not now, not ever. Even Renee tried to reach for me but even she wasn't fast enough. I needed to protect my brothers, to save them at all costs even if it was my life. Seth and Roman needed to be safe, and in that moment I felt like I was the only one who could protect them. In the last moments one Orton's bullets pierced the skull of the burly guard.

But that didn't matter.

Nothing else mattered right now.

Suddenly, I saw a bright blue glow in front of me...


	2. Dean's Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble on the home front, and a scientist that opens up _Project: Taladen_ like a book....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the beginning of this chapter is gonna be a bit odd. It is in third person POV and for a brief moment we'll turn our attentions away from the boys to see another view. I hope you guys like the short change of pace as I did have quite a bit of fun writing it. I hope you guys like it.

Becky had been patient, and was probably the best sibling Finn could ask for. She had taken Dean's words to heart and worked with her cousin to get him back to his old self. The red head worked every day and night to get her cousin to talk to her and just to hear his voice. It had been nearly two week before he finally started talking, and even then it was only single word responses for the most part. But Becky was relentless, and would get Finn to finally speak to her. She loved him with all her heart and it left her heart broken that the experiments that Dean had told her about is what did this to him.

It made her question everything about what was right and wrong about The Falashian Alliance. Becky and her cousin were from the Arbor Providence, directly north of the Asgard Providence. It was directly in the center of Paragon with the Radiance to the west, Leviathan to the north, and lastly the Olympus Providence to the east. Being directly in the center meant it was the central for all trade between the provinces but also the marching grounds for almost every army.

But it also meant that the red headed woman had met many kinds of people from all over Paragon, so she had learned at an early age to accept all kinds of people. However it also meant she learned just as quickly that not everyone she meets are humble or a joy to be around. It made her will iron and taught her to stand her ground against all odds, and that was exactly what she was doing with Finn. When ever he tried to brush her off on his bad days, her iron will and relentless attitude always came out on top.

Now here they were a couple months later, Finn still wasn't looking bright...but at least he was finally speaking more than one word at a time and stopped shaking. He'd still wake up in the middle of the night screaming about nightmares, but still she didn't push him to talk about what happened in Luna or Project: Taladen itself. In fact she wasn't even sure if the experiment even worked on him as he had yet to display a unique ability unlike The Shield. For Becky Lynch though, she was just happy to have him back by her side. Finn meant the world to her.

She beamed brightly that morning watching her goofy cousin scarfed down his breakfast for that morning. As far as Finn's physical state was concerned he had grown a bit and wasn't as thin as when he first returned. He was even back to getting exercise and occasionally helped out in the cafe when he was having a good day. "Sasha feeds you too much," she joked sipping on her coffee that morning enjoying the cinnamon tang that Seth liked. "Eat anymore and you're gonna pop." Finn just stared at her blankly with a mouth full of food. She couldn't help but giggle at the look she was receiving.

Charlotte sighed in relief as the last of the customers from their morning breakfast rush left leaving just the girls and Finn. All of them sat in their own booths to take a breather as the morning rush was always the busiest for them. Each had their own steaming mug of hot coffee drinking the recipe taught to them by Seth that had become one of their most popular items on the menu. Not only did they love the taste but the drink itself reminded them of their brothers out there who were still fighting the good fight. "I miss them," said the blonde being the first to speak in the dead silence.

None of them had really the courage what they were all thinking. The last they saw of The Shield was when they came back banged up from their last mission in Ursa Minor. Just as someone else was about to speak something broke through their window. "Look out!" shouted Finn tackling Bayley to the ground before she could get seriously injured by it. It was his quick reaction time that reminded the girls that he was in fact still a soldier.

Through the small hole suddenly a long, and excruciatingly hot stream of fire sprang forth burning down a few of their hanging plants and making the hole bigger by melting it. Everyone had ducked to avoid the flames and Sasha was able to put one of the plants out by quickly pulling a towel off her belt and snuffing it out. In response Charlotte pulled out a revolver out from under her bar counter and fired a couple of shots towards the hole only for a jet of ice to come out of nowhere and freeze the bullets before reaching the gap in the window.

Becky quickly tried to shift behind some of the booths trying to find Roman's number in her phone. She held it up to her ear as it dialed before dropping it to the floor when another intimidating presence burst through the front door. On reaction Charlotte fired off another bullet from her gun piercing through his leather jacket. He shrugged off the offending material to show the bullet wound had roughly no effect on him and he just let blood flow down his arm. He looked at the blonde woman with an eyebrow raised from under his blue tinted aviator sunglasses. He wasn't afraid of her weapon.

The man mocked Charlotte and pointed to the hole in his bicep as from the wound metal began to encase his whole arm seemingly pouring out from the dark circle. Suddenly his entire arm became metal and wasted no time to lift his arm and back hand a terrified Charlotte knocking her to the floor and to an unconscious state. He slowly began to walk around finding Becky hiding behind the booths. Scared out of her mind, the redhead did the only thing she could think of she began to back up sliding across the floor as the mysterious man came ever so closer.

"Rebecca!" shouted Finn standing in between the assailant and his cousin. "You won't lay a finger on her or any of the girls!" While still keeping his focus on the man, he inspected his features. After shrugging off his jacket he revealed a fair colored taut skin over defined muscles. His hair dark and wavy hair was cut just above his shoulders and had several highlights of blond. Finn's breath hitched suddenly recognizing who the man was. "I thought I put a bullet in your heart."

The man chuckled taking off his sunglasses revealing a dark shade of brown eyes. He folded the glasses and hung them on the front of his tank top. "Clearly you missed."

"I won't be making that mistake again." Finn held his arms out, as something eerie collected behind him. It felt surreal but it looked as if tendrils of shadows were beginning to collect behind the smaller man while making odd screeching noises began to echo in the room. The wavy haired man however seemed unwavered. "I promise you, I won't miss this time…" Finn's shadows eventually collected to make a solid form. Out from behind him, a large tentacle with a spiked end hurled itself towards the intruder.

With a smirk the man put his sunglasses back on and raised the metal arm. In an instant his entire body became metal. He took a low stance looking ready for a fight.

**~~Meanwhile, in the Orion outskirts...~~**

I remember the good doctor's words perfectly: "We can't save every life, and as much as it hurts to think about it we cannot dwell on it, or we won't be able to save the lives in front of us." But they were right in front of me...I felt myself falling apart at the scene.

I fell to my knees clinging onto my heart. I didn't open my eyes yet, and felt I might have been too late. The explosion from the rocket felt like a massive ripple tearing through my entire being. I lost them, I lost them both. How could I even go on without them now? Another loud searing scream ripped from my body, even louder than when I had my arm torn off. I felt like this wound had cut even deeper than that. All I could do was pound the ground in front of me trying not to shed a tear.

"Dean?" spoke a calming voice next to me. I only held my hand up as Seth tried to calm me down.

"Not now…" I said as I was still trying to cling to my heart that felt like it had been ripped out of me. I needed to hold it together. I could still get Renee and Orton out of here.

"Dean." spoke a more firm voice. My guess it was only Roman trying to be the voice of reason.

Wait a minute…

 _"What the hell is that?"_ I heard Orton's voice over the comms. I finally peaked open one eye when I felt each of my brother's hands on each shoulder. They were offering me reassurance, they were both completely fine and unharmed. I looked up and saw both my brother's calming faces and I couldn't help but wipe the tear away that had been burning my eyes. The mere thought of losing my brothers made me cringe and shake. I felt my whole body shaking now from the emotions still running through my body. But what could I do, I just thought I lost my brothers.

I finally stood from my kneeling position and was finally able to look at my brothers in the eyes. Seth pointed upwards and did a circular motion with his finger telling me to look around us. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor at what I saw. Seth, Roman, Renee, and I were surrounded by an eerie blue light that seemed to be blocking bullets from all angles. _"Is everyone okay down there? What is that blue bubble?"_

Still looking around us, I placidly raised my still shaking arm to turn on my comms. How do I describe this? No amount of scientific research had prepared me for this. I've never seen or even heard such a phenomenon and was leaving me completely baffled. I looked over as Roman looking equally as puzzled walked over to our bubble like shield...thing...and reached his hand out to touch it. His hand went completely through it shield and yet I was still watching bullets hit it and just fall to the ground.

Before I could begin to explain what it was we were looking at, it had disappeared and we were right back into the firing line. We ducked our heads as several bullets flew over head. There was no way we were going to make a clean get away with this many soldiers still firing at us. Even though Roman's explosives took out many there were still stragglers that'd see us dead. "There!" shouted The Big Dog as he pointed to a nearby Leviathan jeep. Seth tugged my arm to point out a stack of crates in the opposite direction.

We split to divide the attentions of our enemies. Roman hoisted Renee into his arms, using his strength he was able carry her bridal style, and make haste for the jeep he had pointed to use as cover. I blocked an incoming bullet headed for Seth with my right arm before making our way for the stack to do the same. I switched my staff to it's bow form and let the arrows fly, as everyone else did with their guns. I put my back against the gray crates loading up another arrow when something on the crates caught my eye. Oddly I should have known there was a reason why they looked familiar.

As Seth fired off a couple more shots, he ducked too to reload one of his guns by pulling out a magazine from his belt. I grabbed his coat and pulled to grab his attention before he went back on the attack. "Seth look." I told him pointing behind us. He stopped to inspect the crates as his eyes widened in horror to what I pointed out to him. The crates we were hiding behind were Alliance weapon supply boxes. They were always dark gray with large notches every few inches or so to tie them down if necessary, and of course had to have the Alliance symbol of the three towers on every side and the top. _"There's something severely wrong here. Orton I need you to take as many pictures as you can of the boxes Seth and I are behind."_

 _"Roger. The coast is almost clear, you'll have a 15 second window to get in and out once I get this next shot. Dean drive, with the Prime Minister up front with you she's a great shot so don't worry about protecting her too hard. Seth and Roman should be able to take out anyone who chases you down. Get as far away as you can and head straight back to Astros. You'll need to get a different vehicle along the way. You can't be riding into an Alliance capital in a Leviathan vehicle."_ Orton's orders were final, he knew what we needed to do. Almost a second after did we hear The Viper's rifle go off and a small explosion in front of us giving us the time we needed to scramble for the jeep Seth had ready for us. Luckily save for a few bullet holes in the back the vehicle remained unscathed.

We all jumped in with Renee as passenger and my brothers taking the rear. Seth was brilliant for keeping our get away vehicle running so I didn't have to jump start it to get it going. Once everyone was in I put a lead foot on the gas and was off onto the dirt path. I had to cover my ears once or twice as Roman's bullets were being shot from behind me. "We're clear!" he shouted with one last shot. I looked behind us for a moment to see that the bowl was swiftly coming out of sight.

 _"The mission is a success. I'll meet you guys back in Cassiopeia, just stay clear of Pegasus,"_ said Orton before cutting off his comm line. That meant for the rest of the time Orton was going to be silent until we could rendezvous back in Cassiopeia.

****

~~~***~~~

"Since you're all quiet I'm gonna address the elephant in the room. What the hell was that light?" asked Renee from my left. I didn't want to speak for my brothers but I'm sure the three of us were thinking the same thing. What was that mysterious light? The only speculation I had as that it had to be one of us. They were all Leviathan insurgents, none of them could have gone through the experiment. It had to have come from the project. Which reminded me, we had the Prime Minister in tow.

I looked over at Renee sternly, unsure if I should ask or not. However I needed to know more if I was to uncover this unknown phenomenon. I remember on the day Seth's friend, Curtis, died he said he had given the Eye to her. "Miss Young, the Eye...do you have it."

She didn't respond at first instead looked around only to see that Roman and Seth's eyes were on her as well. "The one stolen from the museum?" she asked looking directly at Seth. Renee was beyond terrifying if she already figured out that it was our little brother that stole the Eye. Seth just nodded not even denying that he as the one that embezzled it. "Pull over, there's something I need to show you guys." Not fighting against her, I decided to pull over still keeping a cover behind some rocks, as we were still traveling in an enemy vehicle.

We all piled out with Renee standing in front of us. She looked at us with a smile as she opened her blanket, to reveal a tattered white tank top. I can see why Renee had held the blanket so close. It was the middle of winter as she was barely wearing anything. But there it was, just as I remember it from the Museum of Paragon History, clutched tight. An amulet just slightly bigger than the palm of her hand. The round pendant had seven orbs each a different color, I'm assuming one to represent each providence. Around them was what looked to be a waning crescent moon, and a serpent circling around it which I figured is meant to be Leviathan.

The three of us crept closer to get a better look at it. I reached out to touch the pendant when she pulled it back. Renee took a strong grip of it and suddenly tossed it against a nearby rock shattering it into many pieces. Roman, Seth, and I stared at the terracotta pieces with our jaws nearly touching the floor. She broke it! The most sought out object in all of Paragon...and she shattered it. We were so caught off guard none of us really knew what to say. Slowly I returned my gaze back to the blonde woman who looked a little distraught. "It's fake. The real one is still out there."

"I...can't believe it…" spoke up Seth slowly and quietly. His sight didn't leave what was now a mess of clay shards. He looked like he was caught between crying and screaming. He it was like he was unsure what to even think. Our little brother's mind was a complete blank. "I risked life and limb for that…" Seth's gloved hand balled into a fist as he punched the side of the jeep. "Curtis died for a fake!" He shouted, still trying to keep his calm.

"Dean Ambrose." Renee started firmly. I know the intense look I was receiving. It was the kind of look that my brothers and I had given others so much when there was a demand for answers, and if looks could kill I'd have been assassinated on the spot. Whatever it is she wanted, the beautiful Prime Minister wasn't going to let up until she had the answer she needed. I was slowly understanding why her career had such prestige to it, and why she was so good at what she did. "You have the research, what do you know about Project: Taladen?"

Suddenly I felt the gaze of my brothers boring into the back of my head. Sighing, I knew I wasn't going to be able to talk my way out of this one.

****

~~~***~~~

Renee, Seth, and Roman all sat in the back of the jeep facing outwards like an audience as I paced back and forth on front of them trying to think about what I wanted to say. There was no way I was going to be able to sugar coat this, not to mention how did she even figure out about the project. Actually, we're talking about a woman who no doubt knows everything that's going on in The Alliance. Probably why Heyman wanted her out of the picture. I stopped to tap my foot still thinking and mumbling to myself. They all held their breath thinking I was finally gonna speak. I started my pacing again hearing their annoyed groans.

"Deano, start by why we are fragments," spoke up Seth. Fragments? I wonder where our little brother got that idea? But it was a good place to start.

"Fragments…" I started tapping my chin, beginning to pace. They knew when I started to pace it meant I was ready for a lecture. Most of the time a long and boring one that quickly loses the interest of my brothers. "Fragments. Fragments. Fragments." I finally stopped pacing to give them my full attentions. "What you're all about to hear may just be the truth behind Project: Taladen." I swallowed the lump in my throat. This was a lot harder than I thought. How could I explain the science behind it without sounding confusing? Oh screw it...I never worked well trying to dance around topics. "We are all small parts of the original."

I took note of the confused looks I was receiving, and why I never really bothered trying to explain anything to Seth or Roman. They'd just get even more confused, but I continued with my speech anyway since Renee was the one to ask. "With no evidence of the original's blood I've got nothing to compare it to, this is all theory right now. Once I can finally get a lab and examine our blood I'll have better evidence. But I have firm beliefs that our abilities is because of a mutation in our DNA." I looked up to see if my audience was still following. I wasn't sure if they understood, but I took it as a sign to keep going mentally sighing. "You see, all of the test subjects were first injected with a "catalyst"." I had to air quote that last word to indicate that it was a placement for now.

"Next through the process of injection," I pointed at Roman, "implantation," I continued pointing at Seth, "or exposure," finally pointing to myself. "The catalyst would combine itself with whatever our body was subjected to, and then mutate our DNA and form new different kinds of cells giving us our individual abilities. Sadly I don't have more information than that, but that's my theory. It's mostly based off my mentor's notes and from what I experienced in my own procedure."

Roman tilted his head with a hand on his chin. He seemed to be the one taking in the most information from what I had to offer. He of all of us seemed to know the most as a former overseer of the project. "Then what's the catalyst?"

I sighed deeply, why do I gotta spell out everything. "Isn't it obvious?" I paused to let the information I just passed on to catch up with my audience. Sometimes it wasn't easy to explain my scientific studies and research, but this was one of those times where the air needed to be cleared. The look on Roman's face said he might not like the answer, however he was willing to listen. "The catalyst...is your mentor's blood. His already mutated DNA. Inside all of us test subjects...is the blood of AJ Styles."

"But that doesn't explain the location of the Eye itself." Seth had a very good point. If what Miss Young had a fake, then where was the real one? I felt that answer only Colonel Styles himself knew. But that also required us to be able to gain access to Freya again, but I doubt they were going to let us in so easily this time. Orton had to pull a lot of strings just to see it, and it was only because of the recording we got from the interrogation of Lorken. He was considered a weapon and placed in maximum security away from everyone. However, it make me wonder: if Brock had enough power from a series of fragmentations and was able to escape maximum security transport...what stopped Styles from escaping? He probably had even more power.

The mystery was never ending.

There just never seemed to be a straight answer...ever, but I guess that would just be too easy. As I thought more on what was to come next I saw Roman pull out his phone from his coat pocket. Probably expecting a word from Orton by now, but with the way his face twisted in absolute terror said something else. It was our older brother who said not to worry about the veteran sniper so it must have been another thing entirely, his look made almost afraid to ask. "It was Becky," he answered our silent question realizing all eyes were on him. It had to have been an emergency, after all Roman gave her specific instructions to only call him if it was, and that was enough to make all of us worry. We worried for the girls just as much as they worried for us.

He quickly pulled his phone up to his ear after dialing her number. Roman groaned frustratingly when he received no answer. He tried yet again and got the same result, sighing and looking absolutely concerned now. The raven haired man fiddled some more with his phone before finally listening to a message he had gotten from red haired woman. He motioned for Seth to move in close and listen in on the message.

There wasn't a direct message but I could definitely hear signs of struggle and even a gunshot. I heard someone whimpering before finally Finn's voice could be heard clear as day. "I thought I put a bullet in your heart." Did Finn kill someone in his military career? How many has he killed and who was it that he thought? We continued to listen to the message. The person he was talking to spoke in a low tone, sounding very calm and collected, but I couldn't quite hear what he said. Roman however shoved his phone in his pocket after the message ended. Probably reaching it's time limit.

He looked over at Renee who looked worried for us. "I'm sorry ma'am, but we won't be able to drop you off in Astros City...we need to get to Cassiopeia." The blonde simply nodded in response probably both disturbed and curious what the message was about. She understood why we needed to make haste towards the southern city. "I know the voice of the person who was there. He and Finn used to be in the same private militia that was once led by Colonel Styles before he joined the military. First Lieutenant Bàlor was solo agent, like Orton, specialized in undercover and intelligence collection. If you thought we were non-lethal, Finn's ultimate weapon was his ability to deceive and blow an enemy up from the inside."

Why was just everyone around us seemingly way better than us? Finn sounded like a terrifying person too. Roman continued, "Finn was placed on a special assignment about a private militia and investigate them and see if they were harmless or not. Of course just like Styles before him, Bàlor too was a soldier of the same militia and it was the same one that he was told to investigate. The militia was named...Bullet Club, and the man that Finn thought he had killed was named Kenny Omega." Roman looked beyond frustrated telling us the story. Of course it had something yet again to do with his mentor. Everything just all seemed to fall back to a single person.

Because AJ Styles seemed to be in the middle of everything, there had to be more than just being the original of the project. There had to be a reason on how he became the original. I knew there were no records of successful human testing, and I had seen AJ's power first hand. What was it that I was missing? How did Colonel Styles end up in the middle of everything? I hated not having the answer I wanted or needed. I just wished I knew a little more about him. Then there was my mentor who apparently had been to Wyndmere several times.

Not only did we still now have to track Brock down, we also needed to see what this Bullet Club wanted with our sisters. Not to mention, I still needed to look into that mysterious blue light. There was so much on our plate right now, and the pile seemed to getting higher. But I believed in our brotherhood and we'd get through everything together.

No rest for the wicked, we all piled back into the jeep and were on the road again making haste for Cassiopeia with the thoughts of the girls' safety weighing heavy on our minds. Never did we think our fight would come to the home front.


	3. Atlean Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their operation in the Orion Outskirts, The Shield rush back to Cassiopeia in hopes the girls are alright.
> 
> In the midst of this Dean makes a discovery he thought not possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter here, some parts also may be seen as filler...I tried not to *shrug* I'm sorry!! ;_;
> 
> Enjoy! :D

We stood there mouths gaped open, horrified to what we were witnessing. The local authorities had the cafe blocked off from civilians as they crowded around the crime scene. The long front window with their logo they had just gotten painted on was cracked in some places but what really grabbed my attention was the massive hole that looks like it was melted through. It was sad to see some most of the hanging plants were now ash as well as some of the pictures that were hanging on the wall.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted an ambulance. I grabbed Roman and Seth's attentions and pointed with my thumb. We pushed our way through the crowd towards the ambulance in hopes to run into the girls. I was relieved that Charlotte was sitting on the back leaning against Bayley who was holding an icepack on the side of her head. Sasha was standing next to her with her elbow wrapped up. I looked not seeing Becky anywhere near when I spotted her on the side talking to law enforcement.

Roman's face twisted in distress seeing the girls. He took Charlotte's hands in his giving her a reassurance that we were here now. She looked up at him with watery green eyes, like she was equally relieved that he was there. I couldn't help but notice a small spark between the two of them, like when we had first met the girls. I wouldn't say it out loud, but a part of me believes that Roman and Charlotte might just be falling for each other. "What happened?"

"They took Finn…" answered Bayley quietly still pressing that ice pack on the bruise that sat on Charlotte's temple. We had asked Bayley to give us the complete rundown of everything that had happened. My heart wrenched hearing of just how terrified she sounded. My brothers and I looked at death in the face for every mission we went on, these girls just ran a cafe and did nothing wrong. It was strange to hear that when we leave the homefront gets to be in mortal danger. Who knows how many Leviathan insurgents attacked Astros since we left. Thinking about this whole mess made me want to scream.

I jumped a little when I heard Becky's frustrated grunt from around the ambulance. She walked over so see us and instantly gave Seth and I a hug for her own relief. "Thank the heavens you guys are here. The officer didn't believe me." hearing that all four of the girls groaned. But had I not been an a test subject myself and seen the abilities first hand I probably would have thought for their story to be far fetched too. After all a man who turned his body to metal and a pair that shot fire and ice from their hands? I knew this had Heyman written all over it, the Luna facility was attacked and all those test subjects released.

However...that gave me an idea.

Seth looked over to see me begin pacing back and forth. That was just what I did when I started to become lost in thought. Out of the corner of my eye I could see all eyes were on me. I tapped my chin picking up the pace until I could finally piece together everything I had in mind. "Roman, Seth…" I started grabbing their attentions. "I think I know how to get Heyman's muscle man out in the open."

Roman's face just held a grin, he tended to like my ideas. If we were to go after and get Finn back we were gonna need Lesnar out of the way first. My brothers watched me as I stood back from everyone observing that I had another audience just like when I had explained my theories behind Project: Taladen. "Heyman made a mistake on letting us live, now we gotta go on the offensive." My brothers nodded to that, since they were following I continued. "If Heyman's plan is to take us out of the picture because we're considered dangerous weapons. We should expose that!"

Seth crossed his arms not looking too pleased to hear that. Although I understand he didn't like the idea of exposure (and really I didn't either), I wanted to keep the home front safe. "But I don't mean us though, I'm talking the project in general. There's no doubt that he wants his muscle man to be the one to take down all test subject being seen as the dominant force. We saw what he did to innocent people though, what's to stop him from doing it again."

"With the other test subjects released and beginning to scatter all over Paragon, you're talking about inciting a riot from them to attract Brock? And how do you expect to keep the body count low?" asked Roman picking up on my plan, and with good reason. I too wanted to keep the body count low, none at all if possible, but to use Brock and pick off a few rowdy test subjects to take him down might be worth the risk.

"I looked into some files, and before you ask yeah they were files I shouldn't have been looking at, and I saw something interesting." I specifically stared at Roman as he was the overseer but even they kept him mostly in the dark and probably per orders of Desmond Lorken. I could tell with the way he spoke, that the project was a lot more innocent to him than what I saw. "Let's just say Seth wasn't the only death row inmate that was apart of it, and most of them weren't even asked. Some of these inmates were just thrown to the project in hopes they'd die, giving them the more painful procedures, I won't go into some of the nastier details I saw. If these subjects were released there's no doubt with an added something they're back to their old ways."

I knew I had Roman thinking when he got uncharacteristically quiet. That meant The Big Dog had them gears turning. "What about damage control?" asked Seth.

The oldest gave a thumbs up to Seth and I. "Leave that to me. The Alliance has a lot of private militias registered to be called upon at any moment. I've got one in particular in mind...they call themselves The Undisputed Era. They're pretty compliant when it comes to military protocol, just their methods are aggressive. I have a feeling we're going to need some aggression. But will enticing a riot, get us to Finn?"

Roman did have a point right there. This was only to lure Brock, I had no idea if it was going to attract Finn's abductors. However if that Becky says is true and his kidnappers are test subjects this might just be an open buffet for them as far as new recruits. We have no idea what this Bullet Club wants, but just like every answer so far it'll come to slap us in the face. "It's a stretch." I answered finally. He didn't seem too pleased. "However before we can pull this off, we need to set the stage. The only thing we can do right now is keep our eyes and ears peeled for any information or incidents involving test subjects."

"You're in luck." called a voice from...above us? The girls and I looked up to see Orton on top of the ambulance looking as smug as ever. How long has he been- "Before you ask, I've been here since Roman started giving that longing look to the lovely blonde." The raven haired man responded by looking down at his hand still on top of Charlotte's. He quickly pulled his hand back giving all of us a good laugh as the sniper jumped down from on top the ambulance. I wish these moments weren't so fleeting. In moments like these we all needed a little bit of laughter.

Orton shoved a newspaper in my hand. "That stage you're looking for is Mars." I wasn't surprised. The city of Mars in the Solaris Providence was also known as the city of crime. I'd never been there myself but the rumors were the same wherever you went. The underground ran deep, and the crime lords ran the city constantly igniting gang warfare. If there was a place where we could easily incite a riot and still fly under the radar Mars was that city.

I read the front page article of newspaper. It wasn't a local one it was the one printed straight out of Astros' premiere journalist publisher that reported on everything that went on in The Alliance. The article spoke about how there was a sudden increase of residents in the medium sized city, and went on about "supernatural" incidents. Suddenly the crime rate went up and not only were small businesses being robbed but these supernatural beings were fighting each other. There has been a call for military support but the response had been quiet thus far, and there just isn't enough fire power for the police to handle. It was sad to read, it felt like I was reading the history of Atlas. I handed the paper to Seth to read about the article.

"I'll get the military to open a blank check for The Undisputed Era. You guys prepare yourselves for the biggest operation in your careers. By the way, you guys might want to try and convince the Prime Minister to sit back. Seeing you guys in action makes her want to get back into it." Oh, I had almost forgotten that we had left Renee at Dwayne's house so she could rest. He probably stopped there to check up on her...actually now that I think about it. How did he figure out where Dwayne lives or even how he got in. Orton is one big mystery that I didn't even want to try and figure out. I'd probably get more questions than answers.

The raven haired man's gaze returned to Charlotte as she took a strong grip of his hand. "Please don't do this. Don't get hurt again." she said quietly and on the verge of tears. Seth and I couldn't help but look at the floor listening to how somber she sounded. Last time we came back after an encounter with Brock we nearly died. I placed a hand on my metal arm underneath my long sleeved shirt. However, that same arm was my reminder that we're stronger now...not only as a team, but mentally, physically, and of course our brotherhood was stronger than ever.

I rolled up my sleeve and took off the black leather glove on that hand. "Girls, you need to listen to me." I lifted my arm to give them a better look at what I was trying to show them. "The last time you saw us we had been cracked, but we were not broken. Seth and I both did something we never thought we'd do. We each returned to our home to drop the weight off our shoulders, and now we're better as both agents and as people. No longer will we be anchored down by the actions of our mentors."

We could nearly feel the girls' gaze boring holes into our heads, but there was nothing we could say. This was our job. We threw ourselves into danger and behind enemy lines so others didn't have to. We got no glory, and little praise but it was our actions that gave our allies the edge of victory. I never thought about how we were the unsung heroes up till now, but that was the unspoken truth about Special Ops. When we signed up for this our previous existence ceased. Even if we were to die the girls would never know, nor would the military even know who to send our bodies to. Would they ship Roman's body back to his island? Would I be sent back to Gale and Sami in Atlas? And what about Seth? He had no family here.

It was sad, but these were things we learned to accept. So it was tough to take in when we had the girls here worried sick about us. We couldn't tell them not to, that'd be heartless...but we also couldn't guarantee our safety either. Ours truly was a dangerous business.

...But someone's gotta do it.

"We can't change their minds Charlotte. We're just gonna have to trust our brothers," said Sasha in the silence. "They come back every time, don't worry." I'm so glad at least one of the girls was remaining positive.

**~~~***~~~**

We returned to Dwayne's house to begin the planning. Roman unrolled a map of the latest satellite image of the city of Mars out onto the dining room table with us, Renee, and Orton standing around it. The Big Dog and the Prime Minister was able to talk to the higher ups from the military to approve of the operation. It was weird that for once we weren't just gonna wait for orders. It was time to launch our own offensive.

The map of the city looked to be divided into four sections. To the east was a massive dock and the large river that flows through the entire Solaris Providence. Around that dock were many branches of roads all leading up to various industrial buildings of many sizes. I knew the city of Mars had a high crime rate but I actually didn't know it had a major port for import and export as well. It was amazing the things I could learn when not under the rock of Atlas. Next, to the north looked like housing, but they seemed to be all really close together and with no real order to them. My guess would have to be they were built in a hurry with no real plan, indicating that Mars became vast in a short period of time. With the way the roads were planted out it looked like a river delta. Lastly the West and South sides were a combination of apartment buildings and skyscrapers with recently scrapped buildings towards the back ends.

Just looking at the plan I could tell that the city was in constant development but only on the inside. The entire outer ring of the city were slums, and they looked even more tattered than Atlas. However, if the city was in development like that...why only care about what's on the inside. It made me wonder if that's how the crime lords ran the place. By keeping the people down, let them have control. Perhaps one day we could come back to this city and do something about the crime.

I had been so focused on the city lay out that I forgot about the conversation going on around me. "I want in!" exclaimed the Prime Minister, she only gotten a sigh in response from Orton.

"No can do, Miss Young. The Alliance has been without a leader long enough. The people need to know you're safe, and you have duties to attend to. You're getting a private escort hand chosen by me to get you back to Astros." As much as I liked having someone as energetic as Renee around, he was right. The Alliance was slowly becoming I'm disarray, she needed to return to the people and bring order back. We all had a place in this world and that was hers, she knew she couldn't argue back.

Orton returned his attentions back to the city plan. He pointed to a roughly beaten up area on the Southeast side of the city and circled it with a red marker with a rather old but still tall building in the center. "The red will be the perimeter that'll be held down by the police. Our first priority will be getting the civilians off the streets. We get them out of the perimeter, or underground, all the while we'll have The Undisputed Era keeping the hostiles in. When Lesnar shows up, you boys…" he stopped to point at us, "Will have to bait him to the old television tower in the center. It's antennas should still have just enough juice to act as lightning rods for his static charges."

"Sounds like a plan, now just to get a riot started." said Roman agreeing with Orton's plan. However that also gave me an idea.

As I thought about the plan more and more, I began to chuckle. Slowly I got louder and louder, what better way to incite people than someone who can relate to them. I looked at my brothers and Orton. "You're all so cute. You leave that to me." I saw all the worried stares I was getting from everyone else in the room. It was almost as if they didn't like my idea, and yet it was the only way to do it. I felt this was my moment to finally show how much I've grown. I looked down at my prosthetic arm and drew everyone else's attentions to it as well.

"Dean, is it because of Atlas?" Slowly I nodded, but there was more to it. I couldn't put it into words but I felt a strong sense of duty to be in the middle of this operation. These people needed help from something beyond their understanding, that only we knew about. I felt that I could save these people before the same fate of Atlas could befall Mars. We couldn't stop the crime lords but I had hoped this operation would have them at least quaking. I wanted to reach out to the ones that could still be saved. I can't save every life, but that doesn't keep me from trying. Just thinking about the doctor's words gave me motivation to do the right thing, but it also made me think where the fine line of that actually was.

That night we invited the girls over and we had a late night dinner under the Cassiopiean night sky around Dwayne's fire pit. Seth had fallen asleep curled in a chair with a large comforter over him and Roman and Charlotte walked off to another part of the patio to have their own talk. It was just myself, Sasha, Becky, Bayley, and Orton left in silence and taking in the warmth of the fire pit. But no one wanted to speak. What was said this morning was all that needed to be said. No one should have to worry about the ones they care about never coming home. I just never had the feeling until now as I've never thought I'd have a real family. If only the good doctor was here to see what I've achieved.

However...thinking about the good doctor made me shake. I could only think about how I couldn't save him and how I almost wasn't able to save Seth and Roman. I could feel a scream bubbling in my chest but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. But I could feel everyone's eyes on me as my breathing sped up, and my heart feeling it was going to jump out of my throat at any minute. I could hear Orton's voice trying to get me to calm down but his words only came out garbled like my head had been dunked under water. Becky shouted and now my brothers' voices became mixed in with those trying to get me to calm down. My vision was blurred and I felt hands holding me up to keep me from collapsing. Panic attack. Yeah...that was it. I was having one of those.

My body felt warm and my head was pounding. My heart was beating faster than I thought possible, and I felt like something was ready to burst from my being. Finally I couldn't hold myself up anymore and I let out a scream doubling over on my knees. Suddenly Seth's voice became clear, "Dean?" I looked up through blurred vision to see everyone was looking around us mouths agape.

It was here again, the blue light surrounding us. It was memorizing, and was calming. Seeing it again gave me that sense of security as if everything was going to be fine. I tried to stand when it had hit me. The sudden realization caused my knees to crumble again as I fell on my ass. It wasn't a weapon or device that had created the bubble. "It was me." I said quietly still in disbelief. I had the same feelings when it had first appeared. The want to shield my brothers from harm created the shield that was surrounding us. Everyone I cared about was being protected by me while in the field.

"Its beautiful." said Bayley reaching out and grazing the bubble with the pads of her fingertips. From tragedy came beauty, and a lifetime of hardships manifesting into a calming light trying to block out the sadness. It was a sign that I was able to go finally move past Atlas trying to hold me down. In this moment surrounded by this light that I finally realized there wasn't a spark of Jon Moxley left. With this shield, my hearing, my vision, only Dean Ambrose remained to carry on a legacy. I lifted my prosthetic arm to touch the bubble for myself. Yeah...everything was going to be just fine.

**~~~***~~~**

Orton would call the higher ups to make sure that the girls would be under military protection. They were considered victims of the project and would be accommodated for their mishap. That morning we'd rendezvous in Odin, the capital of the Asgard Providence, to make sure the girls got an escort to their new abode. It was an older building on the corner of roughly busy street downtown but it was two stories tall and still in great shape. With the military's help the girls were able to purchase the building to continue their business.

The front was flat with a glass double doors and two long windows with the right one extending to the end of the building going along the street, above that was a large circular window that looked to ve apart of the second story. The inside looked like their old cafe with a darker more polished wood to adorn the walls and instead of the hanging plants just series of long planter boxes against the walls. Lastly, the glass window on the right had the new name of their restaurant in purple cursive letters with a shadow effect that read 'Four Horsewomen Cafe'. Charlotte said it was a tribute to her retired father that fought in the Second War and lead a group called The Four Horsemen.

I couldn't help but notice that just past the left window where the housing part of their place began there was a large tarp nearly covering the entire side of the wall just before the door. The rest of the building was painted a light blue, with a single door that lead to the second story of the building that was all living space for them. One hallway had four doors for each of the girls' bedrooms and to the right of that was a connected kitchen and living room, both had enormous space. In the corner separate from everything was another dark wood door, that stood out from the rest of the house that was painted and decorated in light hues.

Randy stopped us from going in. "That's a surprise." he said with a smug look on his face, with the rest of the girls giggling leaving my brothers and I very confused.

After exploring the house and the restaurant more we were lead back outside in front of the huge tarp, now that I had a better look I didn't notice the two ropes that were hanging down from it. Randy and Charlotte grabbed one each. "You boys better come home." At first I didn't understand but with the two of them pulling on the ropes and dropping the tarp everything made sense. I felt a load of emotions, and looking over I saw that Seth and Roman had the same. We didn't know what to say so instead I wrapped my arms around my brothers' shoulders.

The tarp revealed a massive mural with our Cerberus symbol in the middle. The painting had what looked to be my staff Ceadeus crossed with Roman's rifle, and Seth's batons and guns crossed over each other in front. Above that were the words painted 'Believe in The Shield'.

"This place is under military protection." Randy stated again. "However the girls aren't going to be the ones living here. From now on boys, you'll be based out here in Odin. Because you're a first response team, we figured being in the center providence would provide you easy access to the fastest route to all situations. You have a home and a family to come home to, and prove to all of Paragon that you are our defenders."

We looked over at the girls who all had tears threatening their eyes. It was nice to have a home to come back to, something I never had in the past. The girls lept at us to give each of us and Orton hugs. This was truly a joyous moment to hold forever.

That night Sasha and Bayley cooked a enormous meal for all of us to share as a family. Being with the girls, my brothers, and Orton...my entire being wanted to break down into tears. Never in my life did I think I could achieve this. We were a family that came from all corners of Paragon that came together and adopted each other. Our love for one another ran deep, and it made me even more determined to come back safely. We were gonna face Brock and succeed, we were going to bring Finn home.

Orton stood up in front of everyone and raised his glass. "To the best damn Special Ops team! Believe in The Shield!" The rest of us raised our glasses and clicked them together repeating what the Brigadier General had said.

**~~~***~~~**

I couldn't help but eye the other four men on the other side of the cargo plane. The moment felt so surreal as this was similar to our first mission when we apprehended Mizanin. I wasn't paying attention much to what the men were saying but it sounded like their leader, Adam Cole I think is his name, was hyping up his teammates for what is going to be a bloody mission. The plane would be flying over Mars from a extreme height and we'd be dropping on the back side Southeast of the city. The Undisputed Era and Orton would move in first to get into position and work with the police to get the perimeter set up.

After a couple hours we'd move in. Seth and Roman were to get the civilians off the streets and I would gather the hostiles in one spot to incite the riot. However, I had a feeling that Brock would already be on his way. My only hope is that Bullet Club would be there too, we needed to rescue Finn. He was family too after all.

The last time we were hauled up into a cargo plane like this was our first big mission. It felt like things were coming full circle as we prepared to make our jump. However it was different this time. We weren't just jumping because we were told to...we were jumping because we knew it was the right thing to do.

As the rush of wind swept through from the cargo door opening I paid no attention as the mercenaries left first. They seemed rather excited to get into the fray, a trait that made me cringe just a little bit. No one should be excited to make our own home front a battle ground. At least I wasn't, it was our jobs to save lives and putting an end to Brock was apart of that. But maybe there was just a small vendetta behind it too.

He was a test subject just like us. We knew how dangerous he was and then some, and knew the truth behind the destruction of Ursa Minor. It was us who had to put him down, and for us we were going succeed or die trying.

I felt Seth and Roman's hands on my shoulder, signaling that it was time to go. Our offense would be the defense of Paragon.


	4. Into the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission in Mars continues, where The Shield walk directly into the on coming storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so damn long. I wanted to make sure this chapter was not only epic I wanted all the character interactions to be on point. I wanted to make sure the mood and the ground work were set for awesome things to happen. :D I tried my hardest to make things as perfect as I could even rewriting scenes multiple times over. There's also a couple of cameos to spot in this chapter too. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Meeting up with one of the Undisputed Era members, the one with the nice looking facial hair (I had no time to remember his name), he escorted me to the center of the permeter. Spotting a nearby warehouse it was time to put my plan into action. I found some shady looking men, unsure if they were test subjects or not I decided to start a rumor. I’d let them spread the word that there would be a gathering inside the warehouse. 

Watching them walk away I let out a huff seeing my breath in a white puff as it hit the late winter air. Being in the center of this madness just left reminders of the streets of Atlas. I knew what these people had gone through. The hardships of doing things you never really wanted to do, but you had to do it just to survive. It was one painful memory after the next, however they weren’t as suffocating. The weight was gone and my arm was a reminder of that. I’d continue to spread subtle rumors around the area to see how many I could gather. 

I stuffed my hands in my hoodie and continued down the street. I quickly broke out in a run when the sound of screaming had caught my ears. Whipping around the corners I saw a couple of men in tattered clothes holding molotovs and a woman behind them on her knees cluching an infant. The sight infuriated me, and as much as I wanted to keep my guise I had a duty to the innocent. My body quickly reacted on it’s own and one of the men threw their cocktails at the building. I think my training with Seth had been proving to see progress as I was able to quickly catch the firey explosive with my steel arm and toss it away from all of us, and thanks to the upgrade to Ceadeus I was able to release it quickly from a hidden compartment from under my hoodie and knocked away the second. 

The two men looked at me with their mouth agape like they hadn’t expected anyone to rescue the poor woman. But something has struck deep down as she was more worried about caring for her child rather than the home the men were burning down. The two men seemed to be livid staring me down with hateful eyes. Seems like I had spoiled their fun, but I couldn't stand people who stomped on those weaker than them. There already was enough of that in Atlas. Just as the two men ran at me, a flash of black crossed my eyes. 

Seth was always the quickest on the draw, as one of the men was brought down by his stun baton. As the other still ran my little brother spun around lifting his leg high above his head to strike the man in the jaw before thrusting his palm into his stomach. The blow were so precise, quick, and flawless that it looked like all one move. Since our trip to the Radiance Providence he's been a lot more keen on his strikes, and pinpointing vital areas for a deadlier fighting style. That slightly cold demeanor of Seth showed more often but he now had an understanding that it was okay to be dangerous and a firecesome force. Once the two men were out he checked on the woman calming her down and vowing to give her a safe escort to the edge of the perimeter. Behind him though he was waving his hand signaling me to leave. I knew why, I couldn't blow my cover. 

I ran off thinking about how tightly that woman was clutching her crying child. Although she was in tears herself, she had to remain strong to protect her baby. My mother was the same, she wanted to protect me from all harm. Thinking back, I learned to survive because of her. It made me wonder though...if she was watching me protect Paragon. 

I couldn't think about that right now. Once j was out of sight I reached up to my comms. _“In about thirty minutes, I need all guns within the perimeter pointed at an old warehouse on twenty first and Rhys. It's a part of the old industrial from the second war. I'm gathering the test subject and whomever else wants to be there.”_ The warehouse itself wasn't far from the old television tower we were using as our battleground. 

I had to continue my part of the mission though. I walked down the broken concrete letting the violence happen around me, and could only pretend to be apart of it. It was sickening how quick these dregs resorted to violence and picking on the innocent. If I was out of sight, occasionally I'd escort someone to the perimeter to make sure they were under police protection. . 

I pulled the burner phone, that Roman gave to me before the operation started, out from my hoodie staring down the time. By now Orton and the Undisputed Era should have gun on every rooftop around the were house. If I knew military protocol, none of those subjects were going to be getting out of that warehouse with every limb attached if they so much make a hostile motion. I stuffed my hands back in my hoodie making my way back towards the warehouse.

**~~~***~~~**

Peaking around the corner a block away I saw the crazed and tattered men and women filing into the place. I swallowed a lump in my throat. It seemed like my plan may have worked a little too well as there were a lot more than I was expecting. I didn’t really have the time to inspect the integrity of the place myself. I ducked behind the building I was standing against and took the long way around the block to enter in from another side that Seth was so kind to pick the lock on. My brothers had to be in position by now, so now the operation fell on me to make sure Brock is lead to the tower.

I quietly made my way through the back entrance to see the large empty warehouse half packed, and even then the amount of people was somewhat intimidating. What wasn’t empty floor space was abandoned machines for moving boxes covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. I looked around further and saw a stack of wooden crates looking untouched, almost like a stand or a podium for me to make my appearance on. 

I observed the crowd while remaining hidden. No one had noticed me yet, so that was a relief. My consistent training with Seth was finally paying off. I noticed not everyone was a test subject, although the ones that were had no problems is showing off their powers to one another. The second things I noticed that so far everyone we had faced with abilities from the project had all been male thus far, it made me wonder if all the test subjects were however, I’m seeing that I was wrong. There were quite a few females in the audience and some with even more terrifying powers than the next. One of them I noticed had seen right through my guise. She knew I was here and had the same seeing as my own. It wouldn’t be long until she was going to spread the word. But if she had my abilities, what if there were others with the same ones as Seth and Roman. I shuddered to think if there was one with the same abilities as Brock as well. 

I’d commit her look to memory. A somewhat muscular woman, with long brown dreads. Her outfit seemed to look to have some animal fur as decoration, probably a huntress for sport. She shot me a sneer like she had cruel intentions. She was beginning to grab the attentions of the two other women she was talking to meaning it was time to come out of hiding. The first was a taller woman with tattoos adoring her porcelain skin, and short dark red hair to match the red leather she was wearing. The second was a bit smaller than the other two favoring skin tight sporty looking outfit and long bright blonde hair to complete her look. I thought for sure they would attack but they mostly just pointed and laughed. It was a strange moment to say the least. 

I checked to make sure I was Ceadeus completely secure on my person before beginning to climb the boxes. I couldn’t take any chances. Once at the top I swallowed the lump in my throat. Everything was riding on me, it was time to choose my words carefully. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” I shouted letting the ascustics of the room carry my voice quieting down the small crowd gathered in the warehouse. I watched as everyone’s attentions snapped towards my direction and only small murmurs could be heard among the silence. “This is our time!” I took note of the confused glances, I needed them hook, line, and sinker...here went nothing. I took a deep breath. 

“There’s an old saying, one that continuously drives Paragon apart, and close together. **When men crave power, they’ll do anything to obtain it. Once man has that power, they’ll do anything to keep it.** This Alliance that we’ve taken part of is nothing but an illusion created from that saying. In the first war, men needed that power to fight off our would have been conquerors who wanted to take Paragon for themselves. They realized it was a mistake to challenge the power of Paragon. Why? Because they wanted power. They sought...the Eye of Taladen. So why did The Second War happen? A fight for more power. Paragon had run out of challengers, so why not fight each other. Leviathan dared everyone else to see who could match up to them, and turned our home into a bloodbath. With only each other to turn to, The Solaris, Asgard, and Celestial provinces turned to one another to form an even greater power to fight back against Leviathan, ending the second war. But you didn’t come for a history lesson, you’re all wondering why I gathered you here today…” 

I paused to gauge the hateful looks I was receiving. I had their attentions, now it was time to let them hear what they came to hear. 

“Even now, there are men behind the shadows wanting more power to claim for themselves. Men who want us to turn to each other to dirty our hands so that they do not have to. Men who crave what we have so they exploit it and use the corpses we leave behind as stepping stones to claim they think is their birthright. Only for someone with even more passion and malicious intent to climb on top of them. This vicious cycle will keep going until one man stands at the top holding the most sought after prize in all of Elysium...The Eye of Taladen. That is why we exist, to be pawns and weapons for the corrupt. They set us against each other so that everyone else sees only our destruction and not their own. As far as they're concerned they don't even see us as martyrs, only the scum beneath their boots.” 

I looked around to see the crowd turning to one another, as the murmurs increased in number and in volume. My words were sinking into their heads, however I noticed right away that my plan may have worked too well. I looked around to see a slender dark haired woman in the back. She was wearing a short white dress that was tattered and stained in a few places. Her face twisted into a sadistic sneer, and I could see her move her mouth like she was speaking to me. It felt like the woman knew exactly what my ability was. 

**“There's blood in the water, now we await the sharks.”**

I watched her blow me a kiss before heading straight for the exit. I was surprised to see what looked to be three larger gentlemen waiting on the other side for her (I didn't have time to study their looks but they were mountains of men, maybe even bigger than Roman). What did I just witness? Who was that woman? I looked back at the crowd as the whispers became louder and louder until the people started to talk over one another or were trying to rally each other up. This was not good, I needed to get out of here. Suddenly I felt like I was beginning to suffocate with how loud everyone was getting. 

What have I done? 

Without warning the men and women began piling out of the building in a hurry even using their powers to make holes in the building for themselves, and the ones that weren't test subjects were picking up stray objects on the ground ranging anywhere from two by fours to chains. No, no...this wasn't what I wanted. I merely wanted to open their eyes to see that all this was a drawn out battle for the Eye of Taladen. The only thing I could do now was hope that they wouldn’t put innocent lives at stake. 

My thoughts were quickly interrupted by the police radios playing through our comms. It was only a few minutes ago the rogues had piled out and already they were causing havoc. Climbing down my pedestal, I rushed for the closest door to get out of the warehouse ending up in a damp alleyway. I leaned against the wall as anxiety crawled up and down my skin threatening to tear my psyche apart. In a single moment I was confident to now I was beginning to doubt my every move. 

As my breathing slowed down I tried to collect my thoughts. I had shut out everything around me only to be startled by Orton’s voice over the comm. _“They’re getting more hostile. Open fire!”_ he gave the order and suddenly shots echoed through the sky from his rifle and other firearms close by in the area. The plan worked, but at what cost. 

_“Seth! You’re the closest, you need to extract Dean.”_ Even though Roman, Seth, and Randy were in my ear...it all sounded like garbled messages to me. I pushed myself against the wall to see if my body could sink into the brick side. I could hear my heartbeat speeding up and bile building up in the back of my throat. All I could think about all the innocent people that were about to get hurt. In the back of my mind all I wanted to do was beg my late mentor for forgiveness. 

I sat down on the cold ground bringing my knees up to my chest trying to make myself as small as possible. “Get up Dean!” I heard a familiar voice call to me, but instead of reacting I just tried to bury my head into my knees further. I wanted to be smaller and shut out the world around me. “Stand up Dean Ambrose!” shouted the voice again. 

I peaked up slightly to see that my mentor stood before me. I could feel the good doctor's cobalt eyes bearing down on me. Was he looking with disappointment or pity? I had to raise my head further to see he was still smiling. Doctor Ambrose truly was inhuman even beyond the grave. “You can't just lie down every time something slightly doesn't go your way. You're a scientist Dean, when you can't figure it out...it means you need to go back and try something else. That's the beauty of science, eventually something will work. Just try Dean, everyone is counting on you.” I opened my mouth to respond but I suddenly felt hard punch to the face causing me to bite the inside of my cheek cutting the inside my mouth. 

I rubbed my cheek where I was struck. That was from an metal plated glove. I raised my head to see watery chocolate brown eyes staring down at me. “You asshole. I need my brother!” he shouted. Seth reached down and grabbed my metal arm, getting really close to my face to where I could feel his breath on my forehead. “I need Dean Ambrose. But if you're just gonna sit here and mope, then you don't deserve this. This arm is a symbol of why you stand and here you are hiding like a coward. All because something slightly didn't go your way.”

It was just like the good doctor had said. I needed to stop thinking like a typical Atlean and more like a scientist and a soldier of the military. I observed Seth’s wear, even he was giving it his all with just a new wear. His black thermal was similar to mine with no sleeves and was wearing a bullet proof vest that covered mostly his torso area and was held on my thick straps of kevlar that went over his shoulders. It allowed for more maneuverability while still keeping his vitals protected. We had no time to waste before coming here so he even forgoed getting a special type to go intangible with him. Seth knew it’d put him at a disadvantage, but he was already unseen before the project. 

I let him help me up off the ground. He gave me a thumbs up and I gave the same.

**~~~***~~~**

I wrenched my arm out of Seth’s grip finally looking up at him fully to see that his gaze was also focused on the cloudy skies. “I hope you understand now understand Dean...This isn’t about us, we’re here because there’s a man out there whose out to take the lives of the innocent. As an assassin, it’s my duty to execute the guilty. As a soldier it’s Roman’s duty to protect the innocent.” My younger brother looked at me with that smirk on his face. He was trying to pump life back into my confidence, that my constant overthinking tries to snuff out. “You as a doctor…”

I sighed knowing what he wanted to tell me. “As a doctor, it’s my duty to save the innocent. I know. I know.” Our attentions were suddenly caught by a violet lightning bolt striking the ground creating a massive smoldering pothole into the street. We were out of time, Brock was here and was no doubt trying to sate his violent appetite on the test subjects. I rubbed my cheek were Seth hit me. “Thanks little bro, I needed that.” I held my fist out to him, as he bumped it against my own. 

The two of us left the damp alley to head towards the television tower. We ignored the shots from Orton’s rifle that rang through the sky. Slowly they were being drowned out by the sounds of the clashing thunder. Another lightning bolt had struck behind us, followed swiftly by another to the side of us. This was a good sign, it meant we had Brock’s attention. I’d imagine it was probably a blow to his pride to see us still alive. 

_“Orton, Roman, I got Dean in tow. We’re headed to the rendezvous point. Looks like we got the big guy’s attention by the pattern of the lightning.”_ said Seth finally breaking the radio silence. 

_“I’m getting reports from the police from all ends of the perimeter. They’ve already confirmed at least seven dead from the lightning alone. But their bodies were thrashed the law enforcement can’t tell if they were a test subject, a civilian, or just a local thug. Something tells me, Lesnar really doesn’t care about the bodies he leaves.”_ Spoke up Adam Cole, the leader of The Undisputed Era, I had recognized his voice from the plane ride over here. If I had to guess he sounded pretty shaken, but probably wasn’t expecting lightning to strike twice let alone seven times. _“Shield, I was born and raised in Ursa Minor. If this asshole was the one that destroyed my home town, I definitely believe it now. Do whatever it takes to bring him down, you have full support from my boys and I.”_

I sighed to myself, just what we needed more people counting on us. That was the kind of fear Brock brought though. When on the plane Cole was hyping his boys up to be fearless and to make sure they would pull through with no regrets. A man who worked with even less than we did, whose own supply for himself and his men came from his own pocket, and to me that takes even bigger guts than what we do. The Alliance military is the strongest in all of Paragon, to do it's dangerous work outside of it’s veil of protecting takes a lot of courage that men could only dream of having. It was a strange feeling but I had to silently commemorate Cole’s courage.

But that was the kind of monster Brock Lesnar was, to shake even the bravest of men to the very core. To say I wasn’t afraid would be an outright lie. I was terrified, and so was Seth and Roman. There was that fear of death, and the fear of the chance of never knowing if our sacrifices would make a difference. I looked at Seth who was staring down the skies with ferocity in his eyes. That was why we were here. To stow away that fear and bring hope to those without. Finn’s words were all coming back to me. That seemed to be the word that was our center point. 

My ears twitched to the sound someone but before I could react they had quickly grabbed me holding something cold against my head. No doubt a gun. It was strange I didn’t even hear the footsteps. I reached up to grab a hand full of the tattered jacket of my would be attacker. Seth ran over to kick out his shin out from underneath him and I used that trip to lean forward and flip him over my shoulder onto his back. My younger brother fired a shot in attempt to subdue him only for the bullet to meet with the concrete beneath him. 

I shouldn't have been surprised watching his body sink into the ground. It explained how he was able to get the jump on me. Had Seth not been with me my brains would have been splattered all over the ground. This hostile was a test subject with an ability to phase through solid objects. My hearing wouldn't be able to help us much again this guy. However, not knowing what my ability was a weakness of his own. I closed my eyes trying to look for a different sound. I steadied my breathing…

The sound of a gun being cocked. 

“There!” I shouted pointing in the direction of the man who was half hanging through a wall. Seth was just as quick to react and got a bullet in his shoulder causing him to drop the gun, breaking his concentration to fall out of the wall. He attempted to stand but once again my younger brother's fast assassin reaction time was nothing to take lightly. He flipped the switch on his taser baton and hurled it to catch the hostile in the spine. Just as quickly he was a dribbling mess into the ground. 

“Criminals in the Alliance are terrifyingly slow.” Spoke Seth taking a deep breath. 

I observed the man's wear. He was one of the prisoners that had broken out of the Luna facility. Tattered looking gray scrubs with a skull on both shoulders. Finn was wearing the same when he showed back up too, only he only had the Alliance symbol on his uniform. “Just the ones that were caught. See the skulls?” I paused to point them out to him, “He was a death row inmate.” It turned around and look towards our destination. “Do everyone The Alliance a favor, little brother.” 

Seth sighed he knew what I was referring to. It seemed only right that he did the honors. After all he was the that claimed to execute the guilty. It wasn't in my nature to take lives, and even though I'd beaten down plenty of men, my death count still remains at zero. We didn't know the criminal was guilty of...however his actions spoke clear enough. I stuffed my hands back in my hoodie, to had towards our destination. I didn't bother to look or even flinch when I heard Seth's pistol go off. 

This was the bloody hectic life we lived. We weren't supposed to look back. Even I didn't know why I let these hostiles get into my head. 

_“Roman, we're almost at the tower.”_ I looked over to see another smoldering pothole. _“Lesnar is still on our trail. Get your ass ready Big Dog.”_

**~~~***~~~**

I listened to the sounds around us searching for more hostiles. Unless they experts at muffling their movements and breathing there wasn't a soul in the area but us.

Looking up at the building that would serve as our battleground I realized the building was a lot taller than I had anticipated. We could only hope the antenna was a suitable lightning rod. My brothers and I stood no chance against those bolts. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. 

“You know as a scientist, I praise the absolute breakthrough that Project: Taladen has made on the human body and functions. But because of Brock and the other test subjects that only wish to use their abilities for selfish gain I cannot condone it for it's purposes. Once we rescue Finn, I'm going to dedicate myself to finding a solution and reversing the mutation process. I can only hope I can do so in time before this curse takes us all to a dark oblivion.” I sighed again, I felt like everything involving the project was a test of my will and intellect. It made my blood boil thinking about how this stemmed from the work of the good doctor. 

With no more hesitation Seth and I entered the building with only the thoughts of our battle with Brock on our minds. Knowing the elevators were out of power we raced up the stairs finding Roman waiting by the door to the rooftop. Our minds were made up, our consiouses were clear, this was for the vengeance of the people of Ursa Minor, and lastly for those that still remained that could be saved. 

We can’t save every life, so we need to focus on the ones in front of us that we can.

Kelic Ambrose’s words echoed in my head again. I lifted my metal arm balling my fingers into a fist, raising it up eyeing my brothers. They followed in suit touching fists with mine. The symbol of our brotherhood, and showing the world that The Shield was far from cracked. 

With that settled we shoved open the rooftop door. There they were. Heyman’s smug grin and just a few feet in front of him, the pale skinned beast responsible for the massacre of hundreds. 

I ripped my hoodie off to reveal my black sleeveless thermal underneath. I released Ceadeus from it’s compartment while Seth removed his batons from his belt. Three three of us charged Brock with a loud battle cry that’d echo around us. He got ready for whatever we threw at him. This was it…

For Paragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The battle with Brock begins... >:)


	5. From Dusk Til Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's do or die...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there an outside perspective again just like in chapter 2 so prepare yourself for another change in pace I hope you enjoy it. Second there is a PoV change towards the end of the chapter so be prepared for that. I'd go on but I don't wanna spoil anything I was finishing this chapter instead of sleeping. I just _needed_ to finish it cause I was on the edge of my seat writing it. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Brown eyes scanned the alley way that he had chased the hostile down. Undisputed Era member, Kyle O’Reilly, had caught a couple of hostiles take a young man’s life. He only regretted that he couldn’t save the man in time and the sounds of his pleas still echoed in his mind. That wasn’t going to sit well with him at all. He may have been a mercenary fulfilling any dirty job for the right money but even he and his team had a code to live by. Kyle gripped the knife in his left hand the handgun in his right. 

His ears twitch to something being shattered. Picking up the pace again the mercenary ran towards the source of the noise only to come to a dead end and a wall of bricks. His attentions were quickly caught by the sounds of clapping behind him. “The Undisputed Era. Quite the name. How’s Cole doing these days?” Kyle eyed the man up and down. He was tall in stature with medium length wavy brown and blonde hair. He couldn’t get a full glimpse of what the man had looked like because of the large aviator sunglasses.

The young mercenary wasn’t going to let these men get the jump on him. He raised his pistol and fired a shot a the taller man. His widened as the bullet just bounced off the man digging into the brick wall next to him. Kyle knew instantly he was another one of the hostiles in the area that Orton and The Shield had brief he and his team on. Another one of those test subjects with the other worldly powers. He needed to get out of this alley and rendezvous with his partners. This wall was nothing to him. 

Kyle turned towards the wall to make a jump for a brick sticking out of the side of the building. Only to feel his shin and calf stuck in place. He looked down to see his leg had been frozen over with ice. The mercenary looked up to see that the man with the wavy hair was suddenly flanked by two others. He grimaced over the fact they didn’t even look like they wanted to hide their appearance. Both were wearing leather jackets like their leader and bright multi colored headbands to hold down their dark colored hair. The one flanking the taller man on the left suddenly shot a jet of fire from his hand that Kyle was able to swiftly dodge despite his limited movement. However he did lose his balance causing him to lose the grip he had on his gun. 

The man hand signaled for the two that were flanking him to fall back. They obeyed and disappeared into the street leaving just Kyle and the sunglasses wearing man. He slowly made his way over to the young mercenary taking time to reach down to pick up his gun. Kyle watched in horror as he found his own gun being pointed at him. “It’s a shame, you had to follow Cole. I’ll deal with him--” 

“Omega!” shouted a voice from down the alley. The man that held the gun to Kyle’s head smirked. 

“He’s one of them Adam! Get back!” screamed Kyle back down the alley to the leader of his militia. Never in his life had he felt so helpless. It was no wonder that the way Orton spoke he made sure to make emphasis on how dangerous these test subjects really were. He had killed a couple that didn’t want to comply and was given full permission to do so by field leader. It had made him cocky and now he was at someone’s mercy and possibly his leader as well. 

Even still Adam Cole tried a warning shot from his rifle in hopes to subdue Omega but it was no use. His higher caliber bullet also bounced off him and into the wall. But the leader of The Undisputed Era was determined to find out just what made him tick. He pulled a combat knife off his hip ready to charge when even he found a sudden pain in his shoulder. Adam looked into his right shoulder to see a black spike sticking through it. Looking back behind him he saw a long tentacle coming from his back and behind another figure. “Devitt?” He recognized the short dark hair and scruffy beard. They were all once in the same militia together. 

Omega laughed letting his voice echo through the isolated alley way. Adam always hated that he had a flair for the over dramatic. “Remember when you both helped me mutiny and over throw Styles. At the time we all agreed that Bullet Club needed a new leader. He was getting too...soft. It was disgusting, and you swore loyalty to me. Remember that Adam?” Omega laughed even harder when Adam screamed at the spike leaving his body and keeling over clutching his wound. 

Kyle was absolutely horrified that his leader had been caught in this. But he wasn’t sure what they were all going on about. It had something to do with his leader’s past, that’s all he understood from this. He flinched when he once more heard Adam shouting from down the alley. “If that’s what’s this is about then leave my boys out of this.” 

“Oh no, I don’t take too kindly traitors you son of a bitch. I like to consider this an eye for an eye.” Kyle once again felt the barrel of his gun pressed further into his head. He felt the cold embrace of the winter breeze hitting the back of his neck but it was also a sign that he was going to die here. 

“The body count was too high. I know you didn’t care for the collateral damage but I couldn’t live with myself to see another innocent unarmed person die. It was uncalled for and you know it. We were losing money because of your reckless leadership. That’s why I left, I don’t shoot unarmed men.” shouted Adam. 

Omega chuckled. “That’s cute. I just take out what’s in my way.” The gun clicked...and Omega pulled the trigger. Right then and there he had ended the life of Kyle O’Reilly. No hesitation and no remorse, and the only thing he wore was a grin of satisfaction. He wanted more of that gratification, he swiftly turned around and shot the hand of Adam Cole as he kneeled there stunned at the death of his teammate. “An eye for an eye. I’ll let you live, for now.” Omega walked over to Adam taking a grip of his bullet proof vest lifting him. “Because you need to give The Shield a message for me.”

**~~~***~~~**

He got ready for anything we were going to throw at him.

I decided the first shot would be mine. Digging my heel into the ground I quickly slung an arrow in his direction only for him to catch it. I was surprised by his quick reflexes but that didn't stop Seth's bullet from making contact with his left shoulder drawing the first blood in our fight. 

Last time we fought Brock we had tried to catch him with our own tactics and unique ways to defeat our enemies. However, now we were more united as a team tuning one another's weakness into our strengths. Where one lacked the other picked up. We are a unit, a team, we are brothers. 

While he was distracted by the bullet in his shoulder Roman managed a fist to the pale fighter's jaw, and our older brother didn't stop there. He hooked his other arm right into his temple stunning him. However the lightning above us reacted. A swift violet bolt aimed down for us. Not knowing where it was gonna strike we separated our positions away from Lesnar and from each other. Luck was on our side though as our plan of using the tower as a lightning rod had worked. The bolt had curved right into the antenna leaving us and the rooftop unharmed. 

Paul stood there with his jaw agape and eyes as big as saucers. “I gave you pups credit, you're clever. But you forget I made Brock an unstoppable beast.” 

We knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Just like in Wyndmere Seth unbuckled his harness and holster letting them clatter to the floor. He ripped the katana off his back unsheathing it. The last time I had seen our younger brother use that blade he was driven with rage and fueled by vengeance for his fallen friend. Even now his blade was backed with an unbridled fury but at the same time there was this calming presence behind him. I'm not the religious type, but if I had to put my mind on it...it was like the Holy Mother herself was pushing him onward. Gracefully he moved in, rendering himself intangible disappearing from the view. Our younger brother was completely silent, and the only sound I could pick up was light breathing. He had been practicing trying to hide from me, and I didn't even realize it. But if I could barely hear him that meant that Brock was oblivious to Seth's location. It was an ample opportunity for Roman and I to give him the change our brother needed. 

While he was distracted looking for Seth I managed to land Ceadeus into his neck and followed through by reaching up with my steel arm and decking him in the same spot Roman had earlier. However, the pale fighter's reflexes we're keen, and caught my fist before it could make contact. Brock was fast, but he didn't know how my arm worked. I could see that the muscle head was trying to destroy my hand and showing off his strength by trying to crush it, but he didn't know what my arm could do. I struggled against his grip and managed to flick my wrist and caught his palm with an arrowhead. I smirked as he relinquished the grip on my arm as he howled in pain from the arrow going through his hand. That was Seth's moment. He reappeared to cleave his katana down and slice straight through Brock's left arm from the elbow down. 

Of course Roman was the only one with the strength to break him off his feet. With a loud primal line roar our older brother started a series brutal punches on the weakened brawler. A punch to the sternum to stagger him and a few more to the shoulders and jaw with the last being to the bridge of the nose. It had sent Brock backwards into the tower. He looked up with a sneer still planted on his face. He didn't look beaten he looked like he was enjoying the beatdown. 

I looked up as the storm over head grew more violent and more bolts of lightning we're still being soaked by the antenna. “Idiots! Weren't you listening when I said I had Brock suffer through multiple experiments.” Wait a minute...could it be possible that he has even more than just matching Roman's strength and the lightning control? 

“He's not finished!” Shouted Seth raising his katana in a defensive position. I did the same and took a similar stance. We stared down Brock as he nursed his dislocated jaw and broken nose. He moved his head from side to side hearing the pops in his neck. He was up to something and it gave me a shiver down my spine. Seth was right, this was farm from over.

**~~~***~~~**

I swallowed the lump in my throat slowly. He raised his hand and jammed the arrow in his hand between two steel rods in the tower. The pale fighter flicked his hand and snapped the arrow letting the two pieces fall out leaving just a bloody hole in his hand. After he lifted his hand showing us the wound. My eyes widened at what was happening before my eyes.

The hole in his hand was just closing like it was never even there. His nose and jaw we're rapidly healing themselves right before us too, it seemed too unreal that the project could do something like that. Brock truly was on another level. The brawler began to hiss in pain, and suddenly began to scream. The stub that was now his arm started to bubble like something was trying to push out. Suddenly right before our very eyes his arm began to reconstruct itself. Bone reconnected with his stub followed by veins and tissue. Muscle and lastly skin and his arm was the same as ever. 

Heyman walked over and held his hand out under where Brock was shot in the shoulder. The bullet wound slowly closed pushing out the tiny brass projectile and into the rotund man's palm. He held the bullet between his index finger and thumb still holding that pompous smile.

It was then I realized we were in for the fight of our lives. Brock was sizing us up, and now he knew what we were capable of. “Before he was a test subject, my client Brock Lesnar, was a prizefighter and a former military Infantryman. But his thirst for blood is insatiable, and that's what makes him the perfect machine for war. That's what separates him from other soldiers. Sometimes to have order you first need a little chaos--”

“Destroying entire cities and innocent lives isn't just a little chaos! A lot of good people lost their lives for your deranged ambition!” screamed the raven haired man having enough of Heyman's speech. I'm sure he spoke for Seth and I as well. What happened in Ursa Minor was a tragedy and even still those who were apart of it we're fighting the good fight like the Undisputed Era's leader. “What will trying to conquer Elysium do?” 

“You boys think too small. Imagine a world where we don't need to fight. Imagine Elysium under a single order.” Heyman paused to take a deep breath as he closed his eyes trying to imagine his own twisted world. “Now finally imagine that world conquered with only a singular weapon.” I eyed as he reached into his suit coat and pulled out a pistol. He fired a shot that hurled right for us. 

My mind suddenly flashed to when I nearly wasn't able to save my brothers. I'd never let myself feel that way ever again. I raised my hand and focused on moments where my deep need to protect my brothers were strongest. I felt like something was ready to burst from my being this time I concentrated that feeling into just my hand. The flash of pale blue appeared before us in the form a small wall just tall enough to shield us from the oncoming bullet. I watch both the bullet and Brock's fist connect with my barrier. “Your muscle head isn't the only one with multiple abilities!” 

Brock swung another fist back and just before connecting with the barrier I let it down for his forward momentum to carry him and lose his footing. Roman caught his fist while Seth leapt off his shoulder and come down to and cleave him down his back leaving a deep cut. Meanwhile I let my staff down for the end of it to hit the floor. Kicking that end upwards I aimed it towards Lesnar's extended arm snapping successfully snapping it. The fighter had no choice but to create distance been himself and us. We watched again as his wounds healed up in no time. 

This was bad. He had no remorse for his own being as he could easily heal his own wounds. I bit my lip, we couldn't just relentlessly attack him or he'll just come at us again and again. We'd exhaust ourselves trying to injure him. I gotta come up with a plan. 

My attentions were caught by more thunder booming over head and lightning striking our makeshift rod that was surprisingly still holding up. However that did give me an idea. I grinned turning to my brothers. “Ro, Seth...we gotta piss him off more.” 

~~*~~

_The feeling in my arm was burning, like it was ready to explode. It made me almost thankful I only had a stub to feel it from. I looked up from the operating bed to see Sami constantly yawning and rubbing his eyes, he was done and earned a well deserved rest. However, Sami was a scientist like myself he needed to run tests and see the fruits of his labor to have that satisfaction. “Try moving your arm.” He said with a yawn in the middle of his words._

_I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Focusing all my being on trying to get my arm moving and seeing it as a new extension of my being as if I had never even lost my arm at all was harder than I thought. I just wanted my fingers to twitch, anything to happen. I let out the breath I was holding as nothing seemed to move. Looking up at Sami I shrugged, nothing happened in the end. But there was my childhood friend again rubbing his chin in thought. His eyes were red from exhaustion but to get this far and no results wasn't an option._

_He snapped his fingers getting another idea. “The internal power cell might take more juice than originally intended. Just need to recalibrate it's input and output power.” On the underside of the forearm he flipped open a small compartment just big enough to reveal an some sort of high tech outlet. I wasn't sure what he was up to but if I knew Sami it was definitely something crazy. “This is gonna sting Mox.”_

_He plugged a massive wire into the outlet before running around to the other side of the operating table and cranking every dial on a generator to it max. I shook for a moment in fear of what was going to happen, but no matter what happened I always trusted Sami. He flipped the switch on that generator and as it came to a slow start he ran back over to check on my arm._

_As the whirring sound on that generator got louder and louder, the stinging pain in my arm that, Sami was talking about, increased until it returned to that overwhelming burning sensation in my stub. I wanted to let out a scream but I bit my lip instead, he wanted this to work and didn't need a reason to panic or put a stop to what he was doing. So instead I savored the metallic taste of my own blood._

_I held it in immensely awaiting whatever it was Sami wanted to do. We were both hardened by the fact that when we set our eyes on something we did anything to achieve it. That was the will of every Atlean and the code we live by._

_The burning became sensation became hotter until I heard something spark and sizzle. Sami ran over to check what was happening until suddenly the generator stopped. He lifted the arm to get a better look when something seemingly blew up in his face forcing the wire out of the appendage. He was thrown backwards on to his ass on the floor. “Sami!” I shouted throwing myself off the table and rushed to his side. He sat there hissing in pain rubbing his lower back. “You okay.”_

_He threw up a thumbs up. “Mox your arm...look.” I looked down at the arm I was holding the back of his head with. I was completely in awe. Whatever it was my childhood friend did it worked. The new attachment that was now my arm was actually moving and I didn't even notice. It was fascinating how it moved with my thoughts as if I was never missing an arm to begin with. I held out the new hand and helped Sami off the floor and helped brush the dust and singed strings of his clothes off him. “It's good to know that the emergency discharge works.” I stared back extremely confused, I was an expert at the human body and gnome but anything that was happening here was beyond my knowledge._

_Sami chucked, “Let me explain Mox.” He lifted the arm and sifted a plate back to reveal a bright yellow, cylindrical bulb. It was warm and there were an insane amount of wires plugged into it. “This battery with the right jump start is able to hold its own charge and capable of producing its own power. There are similar designs but nothing that can produce as many joules as this baby with little to no heat. A Gale Teegan special, as I like to call it. However because it's ability to receive a charge from an outside source it risks overcharging and short circuiting the arm and you.”_

_Sami moved the plate back over to show me the underside of my hand. On each of what would be the pads of my fingers had a small round bubble and three more on my palm. “When these pads are gray, that means they are ready to receive a charge from any electrical source. When they start to glow depending on the color is how much of a discharge you can produce. Green wouldn't be any bigger than a static shock, you could probably poke Roman or Seth for a good prank.” We both snickered to that, given a reminder that Sami and I were close in personality. “Yellow would mean the charge is a bit deadlier, being equivalent to Seth's stun baton. Red means high voltage and extremely dangerous, and the darker the red the higher the voltage. Without a proper grounding its possible to be deadly to you and anyone around you. Try not to ever let it get that high.”_

_The two of us shared a yawn we looked out the window as the sun began to peak moreover the horizon, beginning to hit the tops of the smaller skyscrapers. “Sami, I've been thinking...I said I might not ever come back after today. But that's just denial speaking. I'm gonna come back when I'm even stronger. The streets of Atlas sing the praise of Jon Moxley. The city itself will soon enough tell the legend of Dean Ambrose--no The Shield.”_

_For what seemed like an eternity we embraced. Sami was my brother too, and we were both determined to save Atlas._

**~~~***~~~**

I looked down at the palm of my hand... **gray**...perfect.

With the intensity that Brock fought with and for how fast he healed. Decapitation seemed the most plausible way of stopping the muscle head. Which of course sounded good on paper, but Brock Lesnar was quite the opposite of that. If what Heyman said was true and he was a brutal prizefighter his extensive amount of fighting prowess more than likely ran deeper than what showed on the surface. If we went for the neck it'd definitely be disastrous for all of us. 

Brock had to have built up some sort of lightning resistance in order to maintain some of that control. It seemed tricky but I was confident that we could use his own lightning against him. It was the only chance we had. I don't think the pale fighter would expect a direct high voltage shock to the brain. Sami's safety measure on my arm was about to become the greatest weapon in my arsenal. He was fighting with us even if he knew or not.

We moved closer together to come up with a new strategy. “We need to get the antenna overloaded.” 

“Is this why you said you make him mad?” Asked Roman eyeing the antenna up and down. He was checking for it's sturdiness. It was still pretty old and rusty but it was still holding. There was no doubt it had a limited threshold so we only had one shot of making my plan work. “What are you up to Dean?” 

Seth laid a hand on Roman's shoulder as Brock charged right into another one of my barriers. “Don't worry about it. Let's just do whatever he needs us to do.” He turned to me, “I trust you Deano.” 

I grinned struggling a little to keep the barrier up. I was still new with being able to control the light wall, but I knew it'd come with time. “I'm glad someone does, cause I don't trust myself with this plan.” We focused all our attentions on Brock, “Here he comes!” 

I let down the barrier to take a shot for my team. I let Brock's fist connect with the side of my head leaving me a little dazed. The area around us felt like it was spinning a bit and there was a dull throb. Roman was barely able to catch Brock's fist in time but received just a headbutt for his trouble. The distraction was enough for Seth to make his emergence from the shadows he raised his blade only to be caught by the throat. He gave a very sinister look at our younger brother before beginning squeeze the life out of him. I looked up through watery eyes to see more lightning hitting the antenna. It was working. 

However I wasn't going to let my brothers anymore than they needed. To add insult to injury Heyman raised his pistol and fired another shot catching Seth in the calf. He wanted to keep the ex-assassin from moving around and limit his mobility. Finally shaking my head loose I took a strong grip of Ceadeus and smashed the end of it into the side of his head. The hit was hard enough to knock Seth loose from his grip. Lightning once more boomed over head. Need to piss him off more. 

I looked over at Heyman laughing as Brock began to gain the upper hand. I rolled out of the prizefighter's next haymaker and flicked my staff into it's bow form. As the former prime minister was distracted I fired an arrow right into his leg. Make sure he was included into the action as he wanted to so desperately. The sudden pain caused Heyman to stumble and accidentally drop his pistol over the side of the building. 

I took the moment while both of them were distracted to rush over and grab one of the guns out of Seth's holster still on the ground that's not moved much since the fighting began. In pain and no real way to defend himself I grabbed Heyman and whipped around so that we were both facing Brock. I held my metal arm around his neck and the gun to his head. “Lesnar!” I shouted trying to grab to the pale fighter's attention.

He snarled and growled seeing his boss in trouble. “I will blow this asshole's brain out! His life should be sufficient for all the ones you stole from Ursa Minor and for taking my arm.” Now, I had no intentions on killing Heyman he was a suspect to something larger so we needed him alive. I felt the rotund man's body begin to tremble so I decided to drive the point home further by pressing the gun into his temple more. I eyed the skies above us and saw more lightning strike the antenna. The way it sparked meant to me it was holding a charge very well. It needed just a little more juice. 

I looked down at my palm for a brief moment. Still gray.

I flicked my wrist to reveal an arrowhead. Lowering the gun I pressed the arrow into the jugular of Heyman. “Or perhaps I should make him suffer as you made me. This arm is because of you, ya arrogant overgrown musclehead.” 

Lesnar shook his head, and turned around swifty to punch Seth in the gut knocking the wind that he was still trying to recover out of him. He was able to easily grab our younger brother by the wrist and held him over the edge of the building. Shit. This was Lesnar’s threat now we were at a stalemate and he had the intention to kill Seth. “What will it be, Ambrose?” He spoke, he sneered, he also held Seth’s life in his hand. Roman tried to make a move, “You move Reigns and I’ll drop him to his death!” Another flash of lightning over head and another bolt absorbed by the antenna. 

But I couldn’t, Seth was my brother. I clenched my teeth and reluctantly shoved Heyman forward letting his cowering form go back to hiding behind Brock, it was quite amusing watching him limp over as he still had an arrow sticking out of his leg. That was like an hourglass for Heyman, even if we didn’t capture he’d still die from bleeding out through that wound at least his manipulations wouldn’t be able to affect anyone else. Backing away slowly I crept over nonchalantly to the antenna flexing my metal fingers and taking a solid grip of the pole. I could feel a small heat where the metal met my skin that meant my arm was charging but now that I was here it was up to Roman to try and rescue Seth. 

Brock nor Heyman seemed not to realize what I was up to. For all they knew I was just trying to take a breather or backing down. The pale fighter looked up at his hostage and let out a quiet chuckle. “Good bye, Rollins.” He released Seth’s wrist without even a second thought. 

“No!” screamed Roman charging down Lesnar catching our younger brother’s hand in time. Here I was I couldn’t help them. I lifted one of the fingers on my arm to check the charge, it was still yellow. They needed to hold out a little longer. Just needed to keep them talking. I winced when I heard The Big Dog howl out in pain. I snapped my head to see that Lesnar had the heel of his foot in Roman’s back. The bastard stomped again causing our older brother to lose some of his grip. There was already blood trickling the corners of his mouth. He was defenseless as he had Seth’s hand. I looked down again, the bulbs were red now, but it wasn’t enough. 

My ears twitched hearing Seth’s voice speak up. “Don’t give up…” he said quietly. “Believe. I know you’ll beat him.” I froze for a moment and tears threatened my eyes, I saw Roman doing the same. No. This wasn’t happening, but I couldn’t let go. I needed to keep charging but Seth. My heart was beginning to wrench. “When I first killed the king, there was a maid in the manor that acted as a martyr so that I could carry my mission. It’s time for me to make the same. Roman, Dean, live...kill this monster.” 

Lesnar lifted his foot again to bring it back down on Roman. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, I didn’t want to believe it. Seth let go of our older brother’s hand to plummet. “Seth!” We both screamed, but our younger brother gave Roman a chance to defend himself. He quickly turned over to catch the pale fighter’s foot. 

“You...You piece of shit! I’ll kill you!” shouted Roman. He was always known to keep his emotions in check. But the anger and sadness of losing our brother. His rage was overboiling, Roman Reigns was losing his entire grip on reality. Like a wounded and very pissed off beast he bared his teeth. The Big Dog charged him down at full speed to make a short leap and charge his shoulder into Lesnar. It had caught the larger man off guard allowing Roman to straddle his hips and bring his fists down onto the prizefighter. I looked down the red was turning a darker shade. 

Brock shoved Roman off of him to unleash a fury of his own punches with Roman meeting him blow for blow. The two eventually locked hands trying to shove each other in a test of strength. It wasn’t like in Ursa Minor this time, Roman was winning this time. All his emotions were pouring out of him. This wasn’t Roman Reigns the Special Ops agent this man was entirely different. It like when we went to Wyndmere and saw the true face of Tyler Black. This was the man that hailed from the Island of Warriors southeast off the coast of Cassiopeia. 

I could feel the heat in my arm starting to become overbearing. I no longer needed to look at my hand to see where my charge was at. My moment soon approached, but my attentions were momentarily distracted by a black feather falling down in front of my face followed quickly by another. What the hell?

**~~~***~~~**

I felt weightless, my body was falling and all I could think about how I just wanted to protect Roman and Dean. But I was falling to my death, so I could only pray to the Holy Mother in my last moments in hopes for a guardian angel. I closed my eyes and placed my hand over my heart waiting the approaching death. But I couldn’t help but notice a burning sensation in my back. Like something was trying to burst out of it.

It also felt like the muscles in my back were trying to make room for something and my shoulder blades were growing? What was going on? As I fell I focused my attention to what was happening in my back. I tried to let what was happening to just happen. I didn’t want to die with any regrets. The pain in my back grew heavier and finally I let out a scream as I felt whatever it was to burst forth from me. Something was there and slowing my fall. I saw a trail of black feathers leave my sight as I was still falling. Looking over my shoulder I saw what was a sight to behold. 

As an assassin they used to call us angels of death, but I never expected that I’d quite literally become one. This was my second chance, a blessing from the Holy Mother. Just like Dean’s light wall, I too now had a second ability. What was happening to our bodies? I concentrated to try and get the wings to work, to think of them as an extension of my body. I shifted my weight as if I was now jumping out of the cargo plane from a halo drop. The ground was approaching fast now, “It’s not my time!” I screamed to the sky. 

I felt the wings twitch and flap once, twice...suddenly I was getting a consistent rhythm. I did everything to stop my falling. I closed my eyes in hopes that even if I hit the ground I wouldn’t have to see my own bones breaking before me. I waited and waited with only the sounds of these damn wings flapping to keep me company. 

I peaked one eye open to see that there was the ground and just a couple feet away. But I was no longer falling. I was alive, and damn miracle. I looked back up at the top of the building seeing the super cell still swirling above our stage of battle. This wasn’t over, not until Lesnar was dead. I was alive and still had a chance. I got my wings to work once more and even faster actually getting them to carry my body. I could feel myself getting faster. I shifted my body aiming for the top of the building, learning to control these things quickly. I found myself now headed for the top of the top of the television tower. 

This was my final chance, I was going to save Roman and Dean. I flipped to my intangable state to get the final jump on Lesnar. 

I got over the top to see that Lesnar and Roman were locked in a test of strength and Dean gripping the antenna with his metal arm watching helplessly. Our older brother was getting the upper hand but that was slowly being turned into a losing battle. I was going to give them all a chance, and not just my brothers. Orton, The Undisputed Era, even Finn who needed our help too. This was for everyone of the Alliance. 

I pulled off the other baton off my belt and switched on the neon colored glow and threw it down at Brock’s feet. The wayward object was just enough to get his attention for Roman to break one of his hands free and finally deck the pale fighter in the gut. I flew down using the new found speed I had with these wings and made my appearance sending my heel into his chest staggering him more. “Ever heard of the saying: What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger?” I spin around and kicked him in the head with my other leg and ended it by shoving my palm into his forehead. “You’re the reason why we’re even stronger than before you bastard! You didn’t kill us when you had the chance.” 

Roman charged up from behind me locking his hands together and slamming them down onto Brock’s chest like a massive hammer that no doubt shattered his sternum. He kept staggering backwards towards Dean and the antenna. “You failed to break The Shield and that was your biggest mistake. Now Dean!” 

Our middle brother took his queue and released the grip he hand on the antenna. I didn’t notice it before but there were these off bubbles on the palms and fingertips of Dean’s metal hand. Only catching a glimpse of them they black in color and sparking purple just like Brock’s lightning. The auburn haired man screamed as he lept for Brock. He took that hand and took a strong vice of the pale fighter’s head. I watched as the lightning flowed from Dean’s arm straight into Lesnar’s body. 

He struggled to try and get Dean off his back but something was happening and it looked as if Brock was beginning to lose strength. I noticed the sparks that were beginning to fly everywhere around the two. Roman turned towards me taking a strong grip of my body and stepping between me and them. Bastard was trying to shield me from whatever was about to happen, but I knew it was just Roman trying to take precaution and protect me just like the older brother that he was. It was like when I had spoken Dean earlier Roman was just doing his duty. 

“Brock!” screamed Heyman. The comotion was suddenly quiet even the small light to the side of the entrance of the roof access had burnt out and it’s glass shattered. I pushed away from Roman picking up my baton from the floor as I made my way over to the rotund man. 

“Your term is up,” I said before taking my baton and swinging it as hard as I could into the side of Heyman’s head. His body quickly fell limp onto the floor.

**~~~***~~~**

Dean peeled himself away from Lesnar. The man was on the floor lifeless with his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He shifted over placing two fingers on where his pulse would be and then proceeded to place his ear on the pale fighter’s heart. He stood up getting a hand on his comm. “This is Ambrose to control. I’ve confirmed the death of the rogue subject Brock Lesnar. Cause of death, extreme high voltage shock directly to the brain. We’ve also confirmed the detainment of his accomplice former prime minister Paul Heyman.” he sighed turning towards us.

Three of us ran towards each other embracing one another in a close hug. We were all still alive. Our brotherhood still intact, and our shield unbroken. Roman placed our his hands over mine and Dean’s shoulders as we looked towards the dawn of the rising sun. We had lived another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lesnar is no more, but Bullet Club appears at last. The Shield's work is never done ;) 
> 
> Also sorry to all the Kyle O'Rielly fan out there. :(


	6. In Memoriam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Operation: Blackfire the cold blooded murder of one man brings two groups closer together. O'Rielly's memory not forgotten, and for The Shield and the Undisputed Era his name becomes their rallying cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whose ready for the feeeeeeellllsssss. o/ I took a little bit extra time on this chapter to nail all the emotions everyone was feeling. Also get ready for some origin stories and another character from the original novel. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

My heart ached hearing the many reports from control from all sides and the overall damage that had been done to the already broken city of Mars. Law Enforcement: thirteen critically wounded and seven deceased, The Shield: three wounded, Orton: mildly wounded--my throat ran dry seeing the last words on the report. _Undisputed Era: one critically wounded, two wounded, **one deceased**_. On this day everyone had lost something weather it was a partner, teammate, brother, or even just a piece of themselves. As this Operation: Blackfire came to a close everyone knew for sure that they left a piece of their souls behind in this forsaken city. 

Even with a bandage wrapped around his head Dean was still running back and forth between many ambulances helping the wounded against the constant protest of the other paramedics. When it came to the wounded Dean never rested. Thinking about our middle brother and his second power made me think about mine. I reached behind me trying to feel for those black wings myself but they had disappeared. Were they a one time deal or were they apart of my will just like Dean’s shield. Perhaps I’ll never know the answer. All I know was that in that moment all I could think about was wanting to protect my brothers, and prayed hard to the holy mother for that. It was a miracle that saved all our lives. 

Roman and I spotted the members of the Undisputed Era staring at the back of an ambulance horrified looks on their face, each them trying to remain strong. The one with light brown hair and very stylish facial hair, was on the pavement with his back against the back of the ambulance his gaze focused on the ground before him, Bobby Fish if I recalled his name. The second one paced back and forth with his short dark colored hair waving with the late winter air, he looked as if he refused to acknowledge the ambulance, Roderick Strong as I was introduced. Finally the leader of the Undisputed Era, Adam Cole, had his forehead resting against the back of the ambulance with his long dark hair flowing over his shoulders hiding his face from the world. From what I understood he had to watch first hand as his teammate was shot by his own gun. The way these men stood, and how melancholy they looked...he was more than just a partner, for them he was a brother. 

They suffered a heavy loss. I took a grip of the crutches that were holding me up and nudged Roman to make our way over. We slowly made our way over catching the attention of the remaining members of the militia. Roman slowly approached Adam and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We're sorry for your loss.” 

“He was a good man, had big dreams of retiring off the coasts of Cassiopeia. He was always fond of the beach, got tired of looking at treelines all the time growing up in the Arbor Providence.” Adam let out a weak chuckle trying to hold it together. It went to show how much they cared for one another just like my brothers and I. “I should have expected Omega to show back up in my life. I didn't think it would have been this soon. But Devitt, I don't understand...he hates Kenny Omega.” He looked over his shoulder to see a confused look on Roman's face. “Oh sorry, when we were in Bullet Club together he went by the name of Prince Devitt...I forgot he goes by Finn Bàlor now.” 

“Wait...you saw Finn?” Asked Roman getting a little heated. After all this mission was to get Lesnar out of the way and drag Bullet Club out of hiding. Our mission to save Finn was still on. I nudged Roman again shaking my head. This was no time to get riled up, they had suffered already this wasn't a time to be pushy despite our desperation to rescue Finn. My older brother let out a breath calming down, he knew that I was right without even having to say anything. “Look, if you have any insight you can provide on the Bullet Club, we're all ears. They took the life of someone dear to you, this isn't just our fight now.” 

We walked away from the mercenaries to let our words simmer with them. Roman and I had finally caught up with Dean who was sitting on the hood of the Alliance Jeep we were to make our way out of the city in. Even he was coping in his own way. A tall bottle of whiskey by his leg and a lit cigarette between chapped lips. This was a rare sight to see him drinking and smoking, as he said to have kicked both habits after he had left Atlas. He picked up the bottle taking a huge gulp of the amber liquid before taking the final drag of the cigarette and flicking it to the road below. “Orton's got orders for us to return to Four Horsewomen's.” He said with his gaze never leaving the streets in front of us. “We need to recuperate as fast as we can, Orton has another assignment for us already.” He lifted the bottle holding it up, “This one's for you O'Rielly,” he said before taking another gulp of the whiskey. 

He handed the bottle to Roman who also took a drink in honor of the fallen soldier. I was then handed the bottle doing the same. Our respects to a man who gave his life to give us and his brothers a chance. 

Despite catching Dean drinking he was completely sober to drive. With my leg injured and Roman's back busted Dean was the only one who could drive despite only having one arm functioning (it must have busted when he was frying Brock's brain). Before we knew it we were back on the road again towards Luna from there we'd go by helicopter back to Odin. At least we could recover in peace and the company of the girls. We knew for sure they'd be happy to see us. We left the city of Mars different men then how we arrived. This would be a memory that'd last forever. 

The ride back to Luna was ungodly quiet. We'd reach the central headquarters for the Alliance military for a final debriefing before returning to Odin for recuperation.

**~~~***~~~**

As we waited for the High General to make his appearance I looked over to see Dean tugging at his tie. It had been so long since we had last worn our uniforms that I had forgotten that our middle brother had a disdain for the dark green colored silk around our necks. Seeing my brothers in such pristine looking outfits made then seem so different from their usual wear. Roman's clothes often clung to him because of his mass, but it was enough to get the women fawning over him. For Dean he was always concealed in baggy clothing especially now that he hides his arm from the public, complete with a pair of leather gloves.

However even with Dean's antics I was couldn't shake the feeling of dread. High General Bristol was the one that pulled the plug on Project: Taladen and now he was to give us our debriefing. I wasn't sure of it was because of the power he commanded intimidated me or was it something else. I had never met the man or had seen him but still this thick tension hung in the air. I observed the surroundings of the room to distract myself as we waited. 

Each corner had a tall plant in large gray colored planters. They stood brightly against the navy colored walls with no windows. The table itself took up most of the room with all of us sitting towards the back and away from the door. Even Adam Cole, who of course was attending the debriefing as the leader of the Undisputed Era, was drumming his fingers against the black marble top patiently waiting for the arrival of Bristol and Orton. Next to him was Roman who was just looking down at his hands and across from them was Dean, who was tugging on his gloves, and myself who just started the door down. It had already been an hour since Orton left to announce our arrival. 

I turned my attentions to Adam. “Tell me, how did the Undisputed Era come about?” I asked trying to ease the tensions in the room. It was apparent that now that the Bullet Club had pulled him and his team in by murdering O'Rielly in cold blood I had their feeling that we were going to see Adam and his team more. We might as well get to know him while we had the time. 

“I was in Bullet Club under Styles at the time. Omega, Devitt--Bàlor, and a few others at the time had followed him to all ends of Paragon. He was a natural born leader and one hell of a soldier. When Bullet Club was formed it was because we had nothing but respects for Styles as all he knew was the life of a soldier. We were a mercenary company that did practically anything for the right price, but we were still always flat broke, and the only thing that kept us going was our bond. Styles eventually had us registered us a private militia to be called upon by the Alliance at anytime. The difference was now we had to comply with military protocol; in which wasn’t such a bad thing considering the cash flow that started that we didn't even know what to do with. But Omega, he hated working with the military, he thought of us as nothing more than Alliance attack dogs. I was young still under Styles’ mentorship but Kenny Omega wielded charisma better than any weapon. He eventually convinced us that we couldn't trust Styles.” I noticed his clasped hands got tighter and his knuckles turned white as he spoke about Omega. There was a clear disdain in his voice and the way he spoke, I couldn’t imagine how much he was still reeling from O’Rielly’s death. Something however did tell me there was already a grudge before the operation. We'd have to question him another time. 

Adam took our silence as a sign to keep going. “We ended up mutinying against Styles and left him for dead in the deserts between Ursa Minor and Astros. I don’t know what happened to him after that but when his name began popping up again it had rung a deep sense of hatred with in our new leader. Like a man possessed he started taking on any job no matter how dirty. Suddenly innocent lives were being lost, and the body count was getting high. We were beginning to lose all that money we had gained under Styles’ regime. Hearing the praise Styles was getting caused Bàlor to leave with claims he was returning to his cousin. Myself…” he gave a weak chuckle. “I ran into Roddy by accident. He was apart of a rival gang in which we had killed their leader. As my blade was at his throat he had mentioned to me that he wasn’t armed and that he was nothing more than a hacker. I couldn’t stand watching my leader and my teammates strike down unarmed men and here I was about to do the same. He wanted out and I did too, he gave me that chance. I escaped off to Astros with him where I hid from Bullet Club with his wife and child. Eventually, I had fallen off the Bullet Club radar...for the time being. It wasn't until I ran into O'Rielly and Fish that the Undisputed Era had formed. Because of our compliances with military protocol it's earned us more than a normal private militia. We're the guys they call when the military needs a job done right and in secret.” Somehow even telling us the story of the riches and praise he and his team get couldn't put a crack in that shell of dread he wore. 

It was a surprise to see just how vulnerable Adam was being with us. I wonder if had to deal with the fact our teams were fairly similar. My thoughts were interrupted by a few final words from Cole. “What gets me though...why is Devitt with him?” It was the same question he had asked himself back in Mars. From the way his muscles had grown tense, he had been simmering on this for a while. There had to been some sort of connection between the two besides just being former members of Bullet Club for him to think on this for a while now. 

“I think the more important question is what does he intend to do with Bàlor?” piped up Dean beginning his own observations. He was a key figure in the interrogations of the recent events and will no doubt be assigned to Heyman’s. However the auburn haired man was right. This Kenny Omega wants something, and is either using Becky’s cousin to throw us off or is using him to get him to follow us. It made me think, maybe Omega knows something we don’t. “In order to save our friend we needed Lesnar out of the way first.” The way Adam nodded it was apparent he understood. 

There was a very think silence in the air. “Damn it!” shouted Roman suddenly pounding his fist onto the table. “How does Styles keep tying everyone up in this web? What if that’s what Omega wants?” Myself, Dean, and even the leader of the Undisputed Era looked at the raven haired man eyes widened. Between Doctor Ambrose’s research and the events leading up to the events of Project: Taladen. He seemed to be the only constant in all the events. How did one man tie the fates of everyone in this room? It seemed so impossible and yet we were proof that it was happening. It made me want to scream just thinking about it. 

We all looked at one another with white hot intensity. We were all thinking the same thing, but no one wanted to say it.

**~~~***~~~**

The tensions were interrupted by Orton stepping back into the room also look quite pristine in his military uniform. He looked at all four of us eyebrows furrowed. Whatever talk he had with the High General it left him in an emotional mess, Orton was just trying to brave it out for our sake. “Attention!” he shouted letting his voice echo in the mostly empty room. That was an order from a commanding officer however and it was a sign for myself, and my brothers to stand from at attention from our positions. “High General Vale Bristol arriving on deck.” The name even caused a non personale like Adam Cole to rise from his chair. This man that was approaching commanded respect wherever he went.

When a soldier stand at attention for a commanding officer they are required to keep a straight face and keep their emotions in check. I was breaking that rule as I stood in awe at the man before us eating the room. The first thing I noticed was a tattoo on his neck designed to be a sword with the hilt probably decorating the back of his neck. It was obvious it was there to hide a scar of sorts. Next was the scar that adorned his cheek and the bridge of his nose. I could tell already he had probably been through hell and back. It was after seeing what decorated his face that I realized he was taller than Dean and looked to rival Brock in muscle mass despite being concealed under the dark green uniform. Every time he moved slightly you could hear the multiple multi colored medals hanging from the left side of his blazer and of course his rank signification hanging from the right. His short jet black hair was sleek, not a strand out of place not did he have an singe hair on his face save for a small patch covering most of his chin. His face was chiseled, and man looked sharp enough that he could probably cut glass just by thinking about it. His look alone explained at lot to how he commanded respect, it was hard to imagine that there was still one man above him. I shuddered to think what the Grand General might be like. 

“At ease.” Commanded General Bristol. Even the man's voice was deep and only a slight scratch from age. We did as instructed and dropped our salutes, however stayed standing until he then Orton had a seat as military customs. He placed his elbows on the table resting his chin on folded hands. Bristol was inspecting us on our demeanor. Getting a feel for what he was about to handle. If there was ever a person I saw that knew what they were doing it was him. He began to eye us one by one, “Colonel Roman Reigns, the leader of the private militia The Undisputed Era: Adam Cole, Second Lieutenant Seth Rollins, and Second Lieutenant Dean Ambrose. You four were the key figures in the latest of home front liberations. I first want to personally congratulate you on the success of Operation: Blackfire.” The gratitude was genuine as his voice lightened for a brief moment and a small smile graced his stoic face. He turned to Orton motioning his hand out to finish. 

“We're going to keep this as brief as possible as you're all still injured and require weeks of rest. We'd like to get you guys back to your homes as soon as possible.” Orton sighed as if he didn't want to bring up the elephant in the room but it was all apart of the debriefing. “The Alliance military sends it's condolences for the loss of Kyle O'Rielly to both your company and his family. Both will be receiving an extra from the military to accommodate for a proper send off. I am truly sorry.” It was sad that the man's death had to be brought up so much, I just hoped it'd be the end of it now. I couldn't imagine how Orton was feeling as well. He was the field leader and the eyes everywhere he probably harbors regrets not being able to see the threat for himself and being able to help in time. 

“Thank you for your generosity,” responded Adam truly humbled by the effort from Orton and the military. I myself can be put at ease hearing how his fallen comrade can have a proper burial. 

“Now for the second order of business,” started the High General again. “The credit for the kill on Lesnar and Heyman's capture has been credited to The Shield. However if word was to get out that a former prime minister of the Alliance, especially one that's been held in such high prestige, was backing the recent events that have transpired it'd expose special ops and even your identities wide open. We're struggling to keep the media at bay as it is.” The general sighed, what he was about to say none of us were going to like. “With that said, if all in this room agree on the official reports we'd like to credit the Undisputed Era with the capture of Heyman. The public is demanding a statement, it'd sound more genuine if someone from the operation say something rather than myself. As a man of honor, I too dislike when someone takes credit for the deeds of others but this is for the sake of everyone here.” 

I looked to find Dean and Roman's reactions. The auburn haired man looked distraught like someone had punched the wind out of him. It was probably worse for him as he was the one that even gave us the idea on how to stop Lesnar. My eyes panned over to the raven haired man to see him sucking in his bottom lip in thought. He probably understood better than Dean why it had to be done this way. But it went without saying we all could agree that it was for the better. Bristol was right, our jobs was to move in the shadows this was the only way to keep ourselves hidden while still responding to the public. Seeing he confliction in my brothers’ eyes I stood from my chair eyeing the High General. “It's the best course of action. Our presence has already drawn a line between the people. With the public aware of the test subjects our presence and participation in Operation: Blackfire will only add more to the confusion.” 

“And if eyes are on my boys and I it should allow for The Shield to track down Bullet Club from behind the scenes.” Spoke up Adam. From the way he spoke it sounded like he let Bristol's words sink in as well. It was nice to know that even after the operation we had full support from him and his team. It was nice knowing that we had friends and allies in high places. It was a small sign of relief. It was just like Roman had said moments ago, everyone had a tie in with AJ Styles in some way here. 

Bristol nodded as it seemed all parties were in agreement. Not even Roman or Dean could argue that it was the best option. After all special ops wasn't meant to have glory, we're meant to remain shadows. “Good, you're all dismissed.”

From one mission to the next, after we recover it was on to our next assignment in hopes it brings us closer to Bullet Club and more importantly Finn. We piled out of the room each shaking hands with one another.

**~~~***~~~**

We'd thought we'd give the girls a nice surprise by waiting for the morning rush to he over with at the cafe. Once that was over by early afternoon the girls would close the restaurant to give themselves a short break and resetting for lunch and eventually dinner. Since moving to Odin business has been more booming than ever even while late winter. It was approaching spring time ever slowly and no doubt business would pick up even more.

While the girls were distracted with getting the last tables clean we carefully opened the door letting only the bell above announcing our arrival. Bayley was the first to turn her head over. She was about to say something but all the words just seem to leave her mouth as a silent awe. Tears threatened her dark eyes catching the attentions of the other girls who in turn reacted the same. The first steps we took was the sounds of my crutches hitting the wood flooring. The next was all four of the girls screaming in pure joy happy that we were back. 

Charlotte made a beeline for Roman embracing him in a close hug, while Becky did the same for Dean. Was there a budding romance between the red head and our middle brother as well? I'd keep that thought to myself for now. Bayley and Sasha wouldn't leave me out and also have me a less than gentle hug despite my leg. None of the girls questioned our status however. 

The last time we came back to them like this they were shocked we had cracked, but now it was just relief that we were in one piece, and even though we didn't bring Finn back we have news that he is alive. Becky was relieved to hear it. Roman was clearly holding his ribs as he walked, and Dean's robotic arm wasn't moving at all, and I was on crutches again. We were in pain but our heads were still held high, completing our mission in stopping Lesnar and Heyman. With the teary reunions over and done with it was time for a little relaxation, Orton said we had deserved it. 

I eyed the stairs leading up to the living space for my brothers and I frowning. There was no way I was going to be able to make it up the stairs with my bum leg and crutches. As much as it did hurt my pride I eyed Roman seeking help, behind him was a snickering Dean and Becky. I could easily use my new wings to fly up there, however I didn’t want to ruin my uniform nor did I want to show the girls that we were capable of the special abilities. We had kept the girls in the dark thus far about our abilities (with the exception of Dean and his light barrier), and agreed it was for the better to keep them safe. 

My older brother laughed with them walking over and scooping me up in his arms with Dean trailing behind us with my crutches in his hand. Once we were at the top my brothers were able to help me get back on my feet but not at first eyeing the dark colored door that was a stand out from the rest of the warm colors of the house. 

We weren't able to take a peek inside last time as Orton stopped us by telling us it wasn't ready. But now curiosity was getting to all of us. I didn't notice it before however, but there was no doorknob. How were we supposed to get inside? I watched Dean nudge Roman pointing to a peep hole at the top of the door. The raven haired man nodded hovering his eye over the small opening. I watch in awe as a blue light shine in a cone shape directly into his eye. The light turned red and shut itself off, leaving Roman blinking in utter confusion. 

Dean laughed at Roman's misfortune, “I think you've worn those contacts for too long.” Roman shook his head defeated. I hadn't even realized that he was masking his actual eye color. It was another illusion of special ops, Roman wanted to stay hidden in plain sight that he used the gray colored contacts to keep people from seeing his true identity. A small yet clever change in appearance. My father, while training me, told me that any assassin can hide in the shadows, a great one can hide in plain sight. Even myself why I had the half my hair dyed blond, however the color is on it's last legs as I've not maintained it since Project: Taladen. 

Roman removed the gray contacts from his eyes revealing a softer look underneath. I could see why he needed the change in appearance. The look in just his eyes were like night and day. This was the man that was only ever exposed when behind closed doors. His eyes were a very dark shade of brown almost black. They still held an iron resolve but also had this kinder and gentler look to them. An older brother, a protector, in his true colors. It was quite the sight to behold. He tried again with the results this time the light turning a yellow color followed by a loud click of the door.

This was no ordinary door. This was a high security door disguised to be just another part of the house. The dark wood slid up into the frame revealing a small metal blast door, that sunk back into the frame and sliding to the left. We were faced with a steel framed hallway leading to another blast door on the end. We made our way towards the other end with only the sounds of our dress shoes and my crutches hitting the floor and the whirring of the various electrical equipment surrounding us. 

We took each step carefully in awe of our surroundings. Before coming to the second blast door. Dean had nudged Roman right away pointing with his head at the dome shaped security camera just above it. “Smile for the camera,” he said sarcastically. Just like the optic reader on the first door this camera also began to scan us with a blue light like a cone. The light turned yellow and shut itself off signaling that it was done and we were free to pass. However, we found ourselves staring down the blast door unmoving from it’s place. All three of us blinked in utter confusion wondering what had happened. 

The whirring of everything around us had slowed to a halt shutting the lights off with it leaving on a red light in the short hallway we were in. “Uh...looks like there’s a few things I need to work out here.” called a muffled and yet all too familiar voice from behind the blast door. “Roman should be able to open it, just be careful though.” 

I looked over at Dean who looked to be seething. “I should have known…” he paused to take a very deep and annoyed sigh. “Gale tech.” 

Roman looked back and forth between the door and our middle brother giving a shrug before placing his palms flat against the blast door, and pushing where the door met the wall. It didn’t budge at first challenging the strength of Roman's grip. “Ro…” spoke up Dean interrupting him. “It's Gale tech,” he said with a grin. Oh no...I have a feeling that was our middle brother's way of saying no holding back.

The raven haired man accepted the challenge and shed himself of his blazer and tie handing them over to Dean. Roman then places his palms against the door once more and pushed. Sometimes I forget just how strong our older brother really was as I watched his hands create a dent in the blast door and his fingers sinking into the metal as he took a grip. With a loud grunt he pulled at the door...however instead of moving it he instead ended up ripping a hole open in the door. Standing on the other side was old man Gale looking very shocked. “I knew you were strong boy...but damn thats the first time I'd ever seen someone rip through that many layers of metal.” Hearing Gale's voice and mannerisms was a relief to hear. Another ally that still remains. 

I couldn't help but ponder: Why did O'Rielly's death affect me so much? Was it because The Undisputed Era were similar to The Shield? It did constantly bring up a disturbing thought about what it might be like to lose Dean or Roman. 

The dark thoughts were seething and beginning to drown out the sounds around me. I was still like a statue when I felt something nudge my shoulder. I shook my head to see Dean's obnoxious grin. “Get outta your own head. That place is dangerous.” I guess I couldn't help it really but he had a point. Taking a deep breath, I tried to simmer down and return my attentions back to what lied before us.

**~~~***~~~**

Gale stepped out of the way to give us a full view of the room. We stepped through the hole Roman ripped open and gazed in awe. It was a wide open space similar to Gale’s workshop with a hard cement flooring and without the large garage doors. Straight across from us looked to set of large monitors with a massive desk with multiple different keyboards and a series of other computer towers, complete with a dark haired man sitting in the chair observing all the monitors. The three of us approached the desk and the man recognizing him as one of the members of The Undisputed Era.

“About time you guys showed up,” Roderick greeted us sarcastically. How did he get in before us? I’d imagine Gale let him in, what could be the connection between Strong and Teegan? He pointed to one of the monitors to the left of him broadcasting the news. “The people won’t shut up about Mars. Operation: Blackfire is getting the media all kinds of hot stuff, the name seems almost fitting. It's kind of disgusting however,” he stopped to let out an annoyed grunt. “they're playing up so hard to the casualties from all sides, even mentioning how badly injured Orton got. Adam's press conference is tomorrow, hopefully they'll shut the hell up after,” explained Roderick without ever taking his eyes off what he was doing on the keyboard in front of him. I tried to focus on what it was he was working on, it looked similar to the algorithms that Curtis used to come up with back in our thieving days. It made me wonder just how many out there were like Curtis and Roderick. 

As my eyes began to pan around the rest of the area I noticed most of the other parts of the control room were blocked off large white tarps. The hacker seemed to take quick note of this, “Gale is still working on those. We needed the computer, and the coffee maker working first.” I lightly chuckled remembering that the older engineer needed his coffee. 

Gale made his way over to us with what looked to be a metal rod with a two pronged fork at the end of it and a shock of electricity flowing between them. While Dean was distracted with the news he jabbed the auburn haired man with it right in his metal arm. The shock seemed to catch our middle brother by surprise as he jumped and yelped at the same time dropping Roman’s blazer. However the shock seemed like it did the trick as Dean's arm suddenly began moving again. I was quite surprised at how quickly and simple the solution to that was. “Don’t short circuit the battery, I don’t got replacements.” he lectured Dean while lightly whacking him over the head with the end of the metal rod. 

“You boys keep living by just the skin of your teeth, and my old heart can’t take it anymore. By the request of that Orton fellow, he had me build all this for you. I brought a lot of my prototypes from The Summit here, that you boys would make a lot better use of than myself or Sami would.” Gale pointed around the area pointing out all the various tarps. “When this place is finished you’re gonna have a state of the art facility better than anything The Alliance could ever whip up.” 

I observed our surroundings more to see two banners hanging on each side of the massive computer area. The one to the left was the symbol of the Shield. It was a dark shade of gray with our Cerberus symbol and the words 'Hounds of Justice’. The banner to the right was the logo of the Undisputed Era. It was yellow with a black triquetra formed by triangles instead of circles. My eyes traveled down the banner to a small side table. It had a picture of Kyle O'Rielly with two little candles on each side of the frame. 

All of what the Undisputed Era was doing for us was in memory of him, and the opening he gave us. I felt a sudden shudder down my spine that snapped my attentions away from everything else and caused me to hastily look around the room. It felt like someone was there and then out the corner of my eye…

I could have sworn I saw him. Kyle was here with us, silently approving of our rallying cry. O'Rielly would be avenged, and Bullet Club brought to Justice. 

“Gale and I have been arguing on what to call this place. But we figured it'd be best for you guys to name it instead since this is more or less your house here.” Said Roderick tearing himself away from the monitors and turning the chair to give us his full attentions. He took note I was briefly distracted by the small tribute to the fallen soldier. “I hope you guys don't mind.” I smiled and shook my head at him. It was a nice touch really, it was the least we could do for him here. 

I held out my fist in front of me with my brothers joining theirs next to mine in The Shield's symbol of union. “The Shield Compound.” I said out loud. 

Dean and Roman looked at me grinning. They seemed to have no arguments against the name. This was the burst of determination we needed to retaliate against Bullet Club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter served to point out how O'Rielly's death affected both The Undisputed Era and The Shield, also to give Adam Cole a better place in the story as well as another ally for the boys as a whole. 
> 
> Also the next chapter was supposed to have another third party point of view but I didn't want to drown the dynamic with having too many of those (also it was running a bit long). There were a lot of parts of it that could be taken out and still have it's proper context but I thought it was so awesome I didn't want to scrap the whole thing. So keep on a look out for a one shot called _"Fight or Flight"_ in where Adam Cole briefly takes the limelight. 
> 
> Until next time! :D


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